An oil refinery in the German town of Schwedt, which previously received crude from Kazakhstan, has switched to alternative supplies from South America, reports infohub.kz.
Polish company UNIMOT Paliwa announced that in July it shipped its first batch of South American crude from Gdansk to Schwedt. The specific country of origin was not disclosed. The deliveries are intended to replace Kazakh crude, which has stopped flowing to Germany due to restrictions imposed by Russia.
"Following the suspension of Kazakh crude supplies via the Druzhba pipeline in May, the Schwedt refinery, with the support of the UNIMOT group, arranged for an additional shipment of South American oil. This delivery will significantly strengthen fuel security in eastern Germany and western Poland," the company said in a statement.
The Polish supplier noted that 90% of vehicles in Berlin and Brandenburg run on fuel from the Schwedt refinery, and Poland receives about two million tonnes of petroleum products from the plant annually.
Russia halted the transit of Kazakh oil to the Schwedt refinery through its territory on May 1. The plant was historically configured to process Russian crude, but after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, it was placed under the trusteeship of German authorities, and Kazakh oil became a key feedstock. The transit stoppage was attributed to technical issues and drone attacks on Druzhba infrastructure, though some analysts viewed it as part of Kremlin political maneuvering.
Just before the transit suspension, Kazakhstan had sent 290,000 tonnes of oil to the Schwedt refinery. Overall, in the first four months of 2026, Kazakh oil shipments to Germany nearly doubled.