The European Union (EU) has imposed sanctions on the Azerbaijani oil refinery STAR, located in Turkey

This was reported by OC Media on September 4, citing an EU representative.

The report states that as a result of the sanctions, products processed by this plant cannot be imported into EU countries. This is because the plant processes Russian crude oil.

The sanctions came into force in July of this year as part of the 18th package of sanctions adopted by the EU in response to Russia's occupation of Ukraine.

The sanctions package lists 26 organizations whose products are prohibited from import. These include 11 logistics companies operating in China, Hong Kong, India, and Turkey, but specific oil refineries are not listed.

However, in response to a request from OC Media, EU spokesperson Anitta Hipper confirmed that the STAR refinery, owned by the Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR, is also included in the package.

Hipper emphasized that the goal is to deprive Russia of its oil revenues.

“This step is aimed at preventing Russian oil from entering the EU market in any form and is part of the EU's strategy to gradually weaken Russia's ability to wage war,” she noted.

The STAR refinery has previously been in the spotlight. In late 2023, Azerbaijan transferred the plant's loans, obtained from American banks, to Russian creditors and re-equipped its tankers to transport Russian oil.

In 2024, the environmental organization Global Witness reported that the main part of the crude oil processed at the STAR plant was imported from Russia and exported to the EU.

Shipping data also showed that more than 90% of the crude oil processed at the plant in early 2024 came from Russia.

In the first quarter of 2024, the STAR plant imported Russian oil worth about $1.2 billion. For the entire year 2023, this figure was $500 million.

SOCAR and the government of the Republic of Azerbaijan have not yet commented on the reports of EU sanctions against the STAR plant.