BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 23
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
SOCAR’s Romanian subsidiary SOCAR Petroleum SA intends to expand its business in Romania by renting six filling stations owned by ARAL MTB, Ibrahim Ahmadov, deputy head of the public relations and events department at Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR, told Trend.
Ahmadov noted that all filling stations of this company are located in places with heavy traffic.
“In order to enter the regions, where there are no filling stations under SOCAR brand name, our company should either buy land plots and build filling stations there, or to rent existing filling stations by rebranding them in accordance with SOCAR standards,” he said.
SOCAR representative went on to add that buying lands plots and building filling stations there, including documentation and construction permit, takes approximately three or four years.
“Building a new filling station is quite costly. Therefore, sometimes, renting the existing filling stations can be more beneficial,” he explained.
Ahmadov noted that currently, SOCAR has 44 filling stations in 21 out of 42 regions in Romania, including Bucharest. “The filling stations sell gasoline, diesel and liquefied gas.”
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