In the first quarter of 2026, oil and oil products ranked second among the largest commodity categories in Georgia's foreign trade, both in terms of imports and exports. According to Sakstat, the country purchased oil and oil products worth $338.6 million, which accounted for 8.2% of imports, and exported $208.1 million, or 12.1% of exports. Additionally, gaseous hydrocarbons worth $204.1 million were imported.
The sharp increase is associated with the launch of an oil refinery in Kulevi at the end of 2025, after which Georgia effectively appeared on the regional oil map as a refining and exporting participant. Prior to this, the country did not record either crude oil imports or oil product exports in comparable volumes.
Russia became the key supplier of raw materials – all purchases of oil and oil products in January–March came from Russia. At the same time, China became one of the prominent sales markets, where about 29.2 thousand tons of products were sent. Overall, Georgia's foreign trade grew to $5.8 billion, with exports increasing by more than 23%.
