Ivan Ottis, the CEO of Ceska rafinerska (the single biggest Unipetrol subsidiary), said yesterday that the company’s domestic market share deteriorated below 50% during the first few months of 2001. The development is a direct result of increased sector competition. Ceska rafinerska is completing a production capacity expansion this year (from 1.3 mil. tons of petrol and diesel production per year to 2 mil. tons per year). Given the high significance of Ceska rafinerska in the Unipetrol holding, the stock could react negatively on the news; the effect might be reduced by the stock’s low liquidity, though.
(Jiří Soustružník)