“Romania has got potential for MOL and we want to also open new gas stations. We depend on many factors which we cannot control but we are working on making expansion possible this year as well. We hope this year’s investments will exceed EUR15 million. The amount does not include anything related to the acquisition of ENI,” Daradics stated.
According to MOL CEO, the number of filling stations to be opened this year depends on authorizations.
In 2014, MOL Romania opened 12 gas stations, following EUR11 million investments.
Of the EUR15 million, EUR5 million have already been invested in rebranding ENI gas stations, as most of the former Agip filling stations are already rebranded.
As for new acquisitions, Daradics said that the market depends to a great extent on two aspects: liquidities and market opportunities.
MOL CEO added that MOL Retail Comert SRL (former ENI Romania) will most likely merge with MOL Romania Petroleum Products SRL next year.
So far, MOL invested $200 million on the Romanian market.
In February, Hungary’s oil group MOL completed the acquisition of 42 gas stations from ENI Romania, part of Italian group Eni, reaching a network of approximately 200 units in Romania.
MOL announced in May 2014 that it had reached an agreement with Eni to buy its 208 gas stations in Romania, Czech Republic and Slovakia. Following the deal, MOL reached a network of around 2,000 gas stations in 12 countries.
Eni entered the Romanian fuel distribution market in 1995 and has been operating 42 Agip branded gas stations in Romania.