Law enforcement agencies have entered the Batumi Oil Terminal, temporarily halting operations at the facility on December 3, according to information published by Batumelebi. The Special Investigation Service and the Investigation Service of the Ministry of Finance reportedly questioned 21 individuals, including terminal management. The agencies have not yet confirmed the details, and BMG is attempting to obtain official comments. The reasons for the coordinated action and the current situation inside the terminal remain unknown.
The Batumi Port is operated by Batumi Oil Terminal, which has been managed since 2006 by Kazakhstan’s state-owned oil company KazTransOil under a 49-year licence. According to the Business Register, the terminal is currently entangled in several legal disputes. As a result, court rulings have imposed seizures on major assets, including more than 340,000 square meters of real estate and oil storage tanks. The company is also involved in a multi-year tax dispute with the Revenue Service, as noted in its 2024 annual report.
Despite these challenges, Batumi Oil Terminal recorded $43.4 million in revenue in 2024, almost unchanged compared to the previous year. Of this, $41.9 million came from service fees and $1.5 million from rental income. Key revenue streams included $20.2 million from oil products transshipment (–2.6%), $10.1 million from port services (–6.5%), $7.7 million from the dry cargo terminal (+16.6%), $3.5 million from warehousing services (–2.7%), and $1.5 million from rental income (+4.6%). Other income nearly doubled to $0.4 million. The group ended the year with a net profit of $4.93 million, up by almost $2 million from 2023. As of end-2024, total assets stood at $134.9 million, with equity at $51.9 million.
Batumi Oil Terminal operates significant infrastructure, including 132 reservoirs with more than 400,000 tons of storage capacity and an annual throughput exceeding 12 million tons. The facility’s six rail loading platforms can process up to 700 tank cars daily, and the terminal includes a multi-level heating system for heavy and viscous oil products. Batumi Port itself features three berths, 11 portal cranes, a ferry bridge, container and oil handling systems, and a marine passenger terminal. The company is led by director Farkhat Tashibayev, a citizen of Kazakhstan.
