BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov.5
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR plans to open three filling stations in Ukraine by late 2020, said Igor Orlov, retail trade director at SOCAR Energy Ukraine, Trend reports.
“But given the ongoing pandemic, it is difficult to make predictions for 2021. We are focused on opening new complexes in cities with a population of over one million. We will definitely develop our business in Dnepropetrovsk, Lvov, Kharkov, Odessa and Kiev. With 55 existing filling stations, we do not have a very large market share. Our market share is about 2.5-3 percent. But if we talk about the premium market share, then, probably, we hold 90 percent share,” he said.
Orlov pointed out that the share of liquefied gas is about 15 percent of the total sales of petroleum products.
“The share of related business is 37-40 percent, which is growing from year to year. From the very beginning, SOCAR focused on the development of related services,” he said.
SOCAR’s representative office opened in Ukraine in 2008.
The company acquired about 20 Tala-Nafta filling stations in Odessa and Nikolaev regions, as well as Svitanok large oil depot in Odessa region in 2009.
The company took control of the fuelling networks ONIO (four filling stations in Kyiv and the region) and GFC (in Lviv region) in 2010-2011. SOCAR received permission from the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine to purchase 26 filling stations and one tank farm of the Kalina group in August 2012.
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