Azernews.Az

By Gulgiz Dadashova

Azerbaijan's state energy company SOCAR, which is keen on expanding operations in the retail oil products market abroad, announced that it will further increase the number of gas stations in Ukraine under SOCAR brand to 100 units in 2013.

SOCAR Ukraine owns over 60 refueling stations. Thirty six gas stations operate under SOCAR brand in Kiev, Odessa, Lviv, Nikolaevsk and Rovensk regions of Ukraine.

Head of SOCAR office in Ukraine Elchin Mammadov said that the company plans to bring the number of its refueling stations in this country up to 100 by late 2013, the company reported.

"I am sure that at present and in the future we have something to surprise," Mammadov said. "When entering the market, SOCAR seeks to become a market leader. Even now with a small number of refueling stations in Ukraine, SOCAR Ukraine became a full member of the fuel market. This proves the fact that consumers primarily value quality, and not quantity."

He went on to say that the company plans to develop a network in the regions of Ukraine, where SOCAR has already been represented, that is Kiev, Odessa, Lviv, Nikolaev, Rivne, Cherkassy, as well as explore new areas, such as Zhytomyr, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk regions.

SOCAR is involved in exploring oil and gas fields, producing, processing, and transporting oil, gas, and gas condensate, marketing petroleum and petrochemical products in the domestic and international markets, and supplying natural gas to industry and the public in Azerbaijan.

The company owns gas stations in Azerbaijan, Switzerland, Georgia and Ukraine. It has representative offices in Georgia, Turkey, Romania, Austria, Switzerland, Kazakhstan, Great Britain, Iran, Germany and Ukraine and trading companies in Switzerland, Singapore, Vietnam, Nigeria, and other countries.

SOCAR started operations in the retail oil products market from Georgia, where the number of Company's petrol stations reached over 112 units.

The company entered the Romanian market by buying local filling stations from Romtranspetrol and re-branding them. Now the number of SOCAR petrol stations in Romania reaches 16.

Following the acquisition of Esso Switzerland owned by the U.S. company Exxon Mobil in July 2012, SOCAR has taken over a retail network consisting of 170 filling stations and a division specializing in fuel marketing for industry and wholesale customers in Switzerland. This division is responsible for household fuel and balloon gas sale to independent suppliers throughout Switzerland.