Gazprom turns on Ukraine; plans to expand gas station network in Romania

Newsroom 04/03/2014 | 14:16

Gazprom will raise gas prices for Ukraine from the start of next month because the country has failed to pay its debts, the Russian gas company chief executive Alexei Miller said on Tuesday.

The move has been widely expected since the fall of the Yanukovich government and Russia’s military escalation in Ukraine, writes Financial Times. Miller said that Ukraine had informed Gazprom on Monday that it would be unable to pay in full for gas deliveries in February.

“In these conditions, where Ukraine is not meeting its obligations, not fulfilling the agreements reached under the contract providing the discount, Gazprom has decided not to extend the discount from the beginning of next month,” Miller said at a meeting with prime minister Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday, according to local newswire reports.

How will the “war” in the East affect Romania’s economy?

Meanwhile, in Romania, the Nis Petrol company, directly owned by Gazprom, intends to expand its presence on the Romanian gas supply market, by doubling its number of gas stations by the end of the year.

Nis Petrol Romania wants to reach a network of 30 gas stations, following an investment of EUR 20 million. All the Romania operated gas stations are under the Gazprom brand.

“We are driven to double the number of gas stations and reach a market share of 10 percent by 2015”, according to Sorina Baltatu, deputy general director for NIS Romania.

Among the methods they will employ to reach these targets, Nis are considering the acquisition of already existing gas stations.

“We’ve informed all the companies on the market that we are interested in buying gas stations and now we’re waiting to analyse the most interesting offers. Western Romania is our priority, given that it’s nearer to our refinery in Pancevo, Serbia, but we are planning on becoming a national player so no region can be neglected”, Baltatu added.

Asked by the journalist if her company is in advanced negotiations with Petrom, given the rumors that Nis would take over 100 gas stations from the Romanian company, Baltatu replied.

“With Petrom we are discussing several projects, they are our partners in gasoline acquisition. As far as transfers go, we’ve expressed our availability to Petrom if they have the intention of rearranging their portfolio, seeing as they are the biggest company in the country with the biggest number of gas stations. They answered that they are planning on reorganizing their portfolio”, Baltatu explained, quoted by economica.net.

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