Still this year, petrol stations with the company logo will appear on the new Central European market, then – continuation of the expansion
L & # 39; Expansion of the Płock business in Central Europe will be through the Czech company Unipetrol "/>
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MAN PRESIDENT:
For the retail trade and the Benzina service station network
The board of Unipetrol is entrusted by Vice President Tomasz Wiatrak. To the Czech authorities
Orlen Group companies hit the spring of this year, and earlier he was the company president
Energa and worked within the Agency for Restructuring and Modernization of Agriculture.
It was also the path of the commercial career of the current president of Orlen, Daniel Obajtek. Fig. ARC
– We analyze the possibilities of accessing new markets in neighboring countries. At first, it should be a dozen stations. A purchase in one of these countries would be possible before the end of this year. Talks are underway – Tomasz Wiatrak, vice president of Unipetrol, in an interview
Orlen or Benzina
The idea is to take over some of the stations currently owned by one the main players in this market. Then the Orlen group's participation will gradually increase.
– Our stations could operate under the Benzina logo, the Czech trademark or under the Orlen logo – adds the deputy director of Unipetrol
This is not the end of the foreign expansion.
– In the second of the analyzed countries we can appear next year – says Tomasz Wiatrak
However, he does not want to reveal which neighboring countries he has in mind. The Czech Republic is bordered by four countries – with the exception of Poland and Germany – where the Orlen-owned resorts are operating successfully – this is Austria and Slovakia. And the latter country, according to analysts, could be the first market that Unipetrol will experience.
Bohumil Trampota, an analyst at the Czech bank J & T, recalls that at the end of the last century, Slovakia and the Czech Republic were a single state
– The Benzina brand is well known in Slovakia and the expansion of Unipetrol in the retail market should unfold exactly under this logo – tells us Bohumil Trampota, adding that in other markets the expansion should be under the Orlen brand
currently operates a little over 900 stations, including more than 250, under the Slovnafta Bratislava logo, a company that has been under the control of the Hungarian MOL for years. More than 90 objects have an Austrian OMV concern in Slovakia, and only a few stations operate within the Shell network. The local leader also includes more than 60 stations of the Slovak Jurki brand. The other companies present on the other side of the Tatra – including Łukoil and Tesco – they have no more than 20 branches.
According to analysts, the second retail market to which the Orlen group could enter Hungary is Hungary. While the Czech Republic has no border with it, it seems to be a natural area of expansion after entering the Slovak market.
– For countries that are geographically close to the Czech Republic, rather small markets may be involved. The purchase of dozens of branches in Slovakia, where there are about 900 stations, or in Hungary, where there are not many others, will not significantly affect the Group sales results. The appearance of the Orlen logo in new countries, however, can have a prestigious meaning – says Krzysztof Pado, deputy director of BDM Brokerage House
Hungarian ban
MOL is number one in both countries (in Hungary its The biggest rival is British Shell, which has about 200 outlets, and the subsequent positions are occupied by OMV and the Russian Lukoil.
– The Hungarian case is a very strong competition at home and via Slovnat in Slovakia – according to an analyst of Bank J & T.
its share of the domestic market is 44% and in Slovakia, it controls almost half of the sales of retail fuels (48%)
The Hungarian market is less attractive than others in our area because the resorts are not allowed .. ban – sell alcohol and cigarettes.Outlets that do not have such an assortment are a lot less profitable. e other than fuel with products gives a margin several times higher than the sale of gasoline or diesel, and banned in the products of Hungary in other countries even about 70 percent. the so-called. Sales out of fuel
The fifth and sixth country
Unipetrol already has experience of competition with Hungary, only on its own land. MOL is number two in the Czech Republic, where it holds one-fifth of the retail market and is in direct competition with the Benzina brand. This network currently has 404 branches, of which 21.4% at the end of March.
The possible appearance of Orlen in the retail markets of Slovakia and Hungary could thus be seen as the next stage of the war with MOL, but this time on its own territory.
chance to enter the nest of MOL. Almost three years ago, the Italian group ENI, the third largest network of Hungarian service stations operating under the Agip logo, went on sale. The interest in the branches was voiced by many companies, but eventually the stations went under the wings … MOL.
In addition to the Czech Republic, Orlen also operates in two other foreign markets. It has 580 stations in northern Germany, which gives it 6.1 percent. market, and 25 branches in Lithuania – 4.5 per cent. market. In Poland, nearly 1.78 thousand operate under the Orlen and Bliska brands. the station. Their sales represent 33.9%. share in the domestic market (all data at the end of March 2018.)
Before almost a decade, Orlen also analyzed the possibility of expansion in Ukraine. At the beginning of the year 2008, the chairman of the group Piotr Kownacki of the time stated that he was already after the first phase of analyzes concerning the local market and that it was not until the beginning of the year 2008. he was beginning to be interested in the networks of specific stations that could interest him. According to his statements at the time, in the beginning Orlen would get a share of a few percent in the local retail market. At the end of February, Piotr Kownacki stopped managing the company and the issue of the Ukrainian acquisition "is dead".
