Smart Diesel, an Arad-based company held by several less known businessmen (Daniel Imbre, Ovidiu Ioan Andries, Petru Farcas), ended last year with 465 million lei (EUR104 million) revenue. The surprising thing is that five years ago, the company’s revenue stood at only RON9.7 million, 45 times less. Smart Diesel is now the largest private filling station operator in Romania, operating on a RON40 billion market dominated by Petrom, Rompetrol, Lukoil and MOL.
“Smart Diesel SRL is a completely automatic service, exclusively dedicated to internal and international transport companies and to all commercial fleet owners, regardless of the size of the fleet,” the company website reads.
“The Smart Diesel stations are equipped with the latest generation fuelling pumps, with high-power delivery force of about 130 liters per minute specialized in fuelling trucks. Exclusively dedicated to large vehicles, these fuel pumps considerably reduce the time allotted to the fuelling process as well as the costs.”
Smart Diesel website says that holders of Smart Diesel fuel cards have access to 80 filling stations in Spain, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Austria and Romania. The company operates a network of 22 filling stations in Romania, according to publicly available information.
Bucharest-based Trend Energy, a company that sells biofuels, posted RON325 million revenue last year, 27 times higher than in 2010. Its owner is Elena Rada and its manager Lucian Daniel Rada, who had previously been sales manager with Rompetrol group.
Another former Rompetrol employee that set up a fuel trader, Rottco Consult, which posted RON521 million revenue last year compared with RON208 million in 2010, is Paul Pop.
“It’s very difficult for me to tell you what the whole recipe is. If everybody knew how to do it, they would,” Paul Pop told ZF in an interview two years ago.
Tinmar IND, an electricity trader owned by Augustin Oancea, should have reached RON2 billion revenue last year, according to its estimates, almost three times as much as in 2010. Tinmar IND sells electricity to ArcelorMittal Galati, the country’s second largest electricity consumer, to Dacia, the largest local exporter, to Kronospan and the InterAgro plants.
As some businesses soar, others in the energy sector plummet.
Planoil, an oil product trader held by businessman Ovidiu Ciocodeica, posted RON739 million revenue in 2010. Last year, its revenue shrank to RON78 million.
Even more abrupt was the exit of electricity trader Petprod, held by Jack Cutisteanu. Whereas Petprod’s revenue stood at some RON228 million in 2010, the Finance Ministry statistics show the trader to have posted zero revenue in the last two years.
Usually such abrupt declines are caused by the loss of a major customer, but information about the life or exit of such companies becomes available once a year when their results become publicly available on the Finance Ministry website.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)