Amsterdam, May 30, 2006--The Rompetrol Group (TRG) intends to invest this year $30 million in developing its international retail distribution network and the wholesale depot infrastructure as part of its dynamic European expansion.
"Starting from a Romanian brand well known for quality and customer care, we’ve built a regional brand and we are now concentrating on leveraging its value on a wider scale. We are the first multinational company of Romanian origin and our playground has now expanded from the domestic market to the entire Europe” said TRG Chairman Dinu Patriciu.
The ongoing integration of Dyneff Group in France and Spain includes more than 200 company owned and franchised gas stations and important storage capacities, with plans to build two new locations in the Arzens area (Southern France).
Rompetrol Bulgaria will increase the number of gas stations by 10 units and will start construction of a 20,000 cm depot near the capital city of Sofia. Apart from developing this logistics base for expansion operations in the region and to supply products to other partners, the Company will develop its distribution network by another 20 franchised gas stations.
An investment of about $7 million is estimated for Albania to build a Company owned product unloading facility in Porto Romano, an important access point for the regional market, with easy access to the Mediterranean Sea. In addition to this project the Company will acquire real estate for the construction of a storage depot and plans to increase the total number of Rompetrol stations to 20 in order to achieve national coverage.
The Republic of Moldova distribution network will grow this year by six units, while in Georgia, apart from the 15 gas stations leased at the beginning of April (currently in the final re-branding stage) another 5 stations will be opened in areas where Rompetrol does not yet have a presence.
In the near future TRG intends to expand the Fill&Go service to all international gas station locations, offering this competitive car fleet management system to its global customers.
TRG’s international distribution network development (retail and wholesale) is also supported by investments of more than $140 million that the Group planed for the next two years at Rompetrol Rafinare (its main refining unit, Petromidia refinery). The focus will be on environment protection and modernization projects aimed to increase processing capacity and product quality, enabling Petromidia to consolidate its success on the European market where the main competitors are major international companies.
About Rompetrol:
The Rompetrol Group N.V. is a multinational oil company headquartered in The Netherlands, operating in 12 countries, and with the majority of its assets and operations based in France, Romania, Spain, and South-East Europe. The group is active primarily in refining and marketing/downstream, with additional operations in exploration and production, and other oil industry services such as drilling, EPCM, transportation, etc. With a staff of more than 8,000 employees, TRG estimates gross revenues of about $5 billion this year. TRG aims to become one of the largest independent oil companies in Europe and obtain a strong position in the Black Sea and Mediterranean areas.