Russia's Gazprom Neft is seeking to sell its fuel retail operations in Bulgaria, aiming for a valuation of 60 million euro to 80 million euro ($85.2 million), business daily Capital reported last week.
The company is seeking to offload 23 petrol stations under the Gazprom brand, a tax warehouse in the town of Kostinbrod and 12 land plots, Capital reported, citing unspecified sources from the sector. Interested parties must submit bids by November 23.
According to some sources cited in the report, this is the first time Gazprom has hired an investment consultant to assist with the proposed sale, although a potential exit from the Bulgarian market has been previously explored.
Gazprom Neft is active in Bulgaria through NIS Petrol, a unit of its Serbia-based subsidiary NIS Group, which is also present in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania and Russia. NIS Group owns the Pancevo refinery in Serbia, which is a major supplier to the Kostinbrod warehouse.
The 15,650 cubic metres warehouse is used for storing light fuel and has road and rail terminals, according to information published by NIS Petrol Bulgaria.
Bulgaria is currently the sole EU member to import Russian seaborne crude under an exemption granted by the EU Commission in 2022 from the sanctions imposed on Russian companies in response to the war in Ukraine. In September, the Bulgarian parliament voted to oblige the refinery to switch to non-Russian crude by October 1, 2024, or three months before the exemption is due to expire.
Full story at Gazprom seeks to sell Bulgarian petrol stations - report (seenews.com)
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