OMV selling off service stations in Slovenia

Ljubljana – The Austrian energy group OMV has decided to sell off its 120 petrol stations in Slovenia as part of an ongoing EUR 2 billion divestment programme, the group announced on Thursday. In Slovenia, the group operates filling stations under the brands OMV, Eurotruck, Avanti and Diskont.

“With its limited integration within the downstream oil value chain, the divestment of this business represents a further step in OMV’s portfolio optimization,” the group said in a press release.

The announcement comes after OMV sold off 300 service stations in Germany last year. The company also sold its 51% stake in gas logistics subsidiary Gas Connect Austria and the sold its upstream business in Kazakhstan.

According to the press release the divestment transactions already signed will bring in more than EUR 1 billion this year, following regulatory approval.

Apart from selling petrol stations in Slovenia, the second divestment package also includes the sale of a nitrogen business unit of the subsidiary Borealis.

A third package is to be announced in the course of this year, the press release also said.

OMV has been present in Slovenia since 1992 when it founded the joint venture OMV Istrabenz with Istrabenz and Ina.

The Austrian corporation became the majority owner in 2004 as the company was rebranded as OMV Slovenija. Its network in Slovenia is organised as franchises.

It is the second biggest market player in the country, with a market share of just over 20%, after Petrol, which controls 60% of the market.

In recent years presence in Slovenia has been built up by Hungary’s Mol, which operates just over 50 service stations. Other suppliers have smaller market shares.

OMV does not plan to sell off its other asset in Slovenia, OMV Marine, which supplies maritime transport businesses.

The Austrian press agency APA quoted OMV CEO Rainer Seele as saying they had decided to offload service stations in Slovenia because they did not sell own-production petrol and diesel there.

The post OMV selling off service stations in Slovenia appeared first on Slovenia Times.

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