According to some sources, Lukoil is preparing to leave the market in the Republic of Moldova. Shell and Rompetrol might be the ones interested in taking over the 100 gas stations, writes mybusiness.md.
After announcing their departure from the Romanian market, the Russians from Lukoil are preparing to leave the Republic of Moldova as well, and according to some sources in the oil market, discussions are currently being held in this regard. Now they have to find a company to take over the more than 100 filling stations across the Prut. As in Romania, it seems that those interested in taking them over would be those from Shell, but also those from Rompetrol through the KMG group, writes romaniatv.net.
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In the case of Romania, Lukoil has the Petrotel refinery in Ploiesti, but in the case of Moldova, things are a little different. The fuel there is imported from Romania and Bulgaria, after they gave up imports from Russia in 2014, with the occupation of Crimea. In other words, Lukoil is “obliged” to give up the Republic of Moldova, because leaving the Romanian market would mean that they remain isolated in the region.
Unlike in Romania, where Lukoil has competitors on the market, namely OMV-Petrom, Mol and Rompetrol, in the Republic of Moldova they represent the main distribution network of carbonates. Over the Prut, the main competition is represented by the KMG-Rompetrol Group, which owns 87 filling stations. Also, if in the Lukoil network in the Republic of Moldova over 90% of the stations are owned by Lukoil, in the Rompetrol network over 90% are franchised.