Focusing on small and middle sized towns in Romania, MOL plans to open eight new filling stations in 2007 through a EUR 12m million investment, managing director of MOL Romania PP Srl told the press yesterday. With this the company plans to hold 129 stations at the end of 2007.
Our view: Last year MOL’s market share in Romania grew to 14.4% by volume, making the company the second largest retail trader on the fuel market behind Petrom/OMV. Romanian fuel consumption is growing fast, which is reflected in rising average throughput of stations and broadening retail margins. In this environment we welcome MOL’s efforts to invest further in Romania.