On February 17, 2025, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) announced a “drone attack” on an “oil transportation facility – the Kropotkinskaya oil pumping station”, while simultaneously stating that “there were no casualties among the OPS personnel”, as well as “no threat of an oil spill”.
It was stated that CPC General Director Nikolai Gorban was personally sent to inspect the damage, and that “Kropotkinskaya” was “decommissioned”, and “oil transportation via the Tengiz-Novorossiysk pipeline system is carried out at reduced pumping rates”, along a certain bypass route.
At the same time, in its statements, CPC retransmits the classic propaganda of the aggressor, declaring an alleged “terrorist strike”, an alleged “terrorist attack on a civilian facility”, about which this structure promises to “notify everyone shareholders”, “including representatives of companies from the USA and Europe”.
We have repeatedly covered the illegal supplies of oil products to occupied Crimea, including from Novorossiysk, and therefore could not ignore the current statements of CPC.
Let’s start with the fact that the largest shareholders of this structure are Russian companies, including the sanctioned “Transneft” (24% of shares), whose functionary, by the way, for a long time was the aforementioned CEO, Russian citizen Nikolai Gorban. Russia also controls “CPC Company”, which owns 7% of KTK shares, and the Cypriot subsidiary of “Rosneft”, “Rosneft-Shell Caspian Ventures Ltd”, with its 7.5% of shares, as well as the subsidiary of “Lukoil”, the Austrian “LukArco B.V.”, with its 12.5% of shares.
Kazakh companies “KazMunayGas” and “Kazakhstan Pipeline Ventures” jointly own no more than 21% of CPC shares, and “Chevron Caspian Pipeline Consortium Company”, “Mobil Caspian Pipeline Company”, “BG Overseas Holding Ltd”, “Eni International N.A. N.V.” and “Oryx Caspian Pipeline LLC” are also listed as minority shareholders.
Thus, a simple calculation shows that Russian companies control more than 50% of CPC shares, using Kazakh, European and American businesses more as a cover than as partners. At the same time, even “official sources” do not hide the fact that CPC pumps Russian oil to Novorossiysk terminals, among other things.
Moreover, CPC facilities in Russia are operated by a completely Russian company, namely “JSC Caspian Pipeline Consortium-R”, registered in Novorossiysk and headed by the same Nikolai Gorban.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed that on February 17, the Ukrainian Defense Forces carried out successful strikes on strategic objects of the military and fuel and energy infrastructure of Russia.
According to the press service of the department, the following objects were hit as part of the operation of the Defense Forces: the Ilsky oil refinery in the Krasnodar region of Russia – a “large-scale fire” was recorded at the facility; the Kroportkinskaya oil pumping station; and the Andreapol oil pumping station.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine clarified that the affected stations provided fuel transportation for the needs of the Russian occupiers, and that as a result of the attack they were put out of order, which will significantly complicate the logistics of fuel supplies to the aggressor.
Thus, the statements of the CPC do not correspond to either the facts or the law. The Kropotkinskaya oil pumping station is controlled by the aggressor’s structures, it pumps, among other things, the aggressor’s oil, both for the revenue of Russia and for the needs of the Russian military structures.
At the same time, the legality of the oil pumping station as a military target was accompanied by the proportionality of the strike, without excessive consequences for either the environment or the population, the weapon used to strike was also not prohibited.
Thus, the subject of further study of this situation in the international key may be, first of all, additional sanctions concerning the “Caspian Pipeline Consortium-R” JSC, as a cover for the above-described oil scams in the aggressor’s interests.
