Romanian oil company wants to expand partnership with French retailer

OMV Petrom, the biggest oil, and gas company in Romania, and Auchan Retail Romania, the local subsidiary of French group Auchan, plan to expand their partnership for opening MyAuchan proximity shops in Petrom gas stations. The two parts have agreed on a memorandum of understanding expressing their intentions to discuss expanding the partnership once they get clearance from the Competition Council, the companies announced in a press release. The partnership started in 2017 with a pilot phase in which Auchan opened proximity shops in 15 Petrom gas stations in both urban and rural areas. This phase aimed to test the business model and evaluate the partnership’s potential. “So far, the results have been encouraging and we are happy to negotiate the partnership expansion and have more MyAuchan proximity shops in our Petrom stations,” said Radu Caprau, member of OMV Petrom’s Directorate, in charge with the Downstream Oil segment. “The partnership with OMV Petrom, initiated in 2017 as a pilot, has been useful for both companies and helped us improve our proximity offer by identifying the most suitable range of products and services,” added Ionut Ardeleanu, general manager of Auchan Retail Romania. The MyAuchan shops in Petrom fuel stations have a range of up to 3,000 products, including premium food, cooked food, fresh coffee, fruits, vegetables, bakery products, dairy products, groceries, as well as cosmetics, baby products, and car accessories. The variety depends on the size of the station. The two companies said they would offer more details about their expanded partnership in the future after they finish negotiations. OMV Petrom is the leader of the local fuel market in terms of sales. The group operates a network of over 500 fuel stations, more than 400 of which are under the Petrom brand. Auchan has 33 hypermarkets in Romania and a network of proximity stores under the MyAuchan brand. The retailer has some 10,000 employees and a turnover of over EUR 1.2 billion. editor@romania-insider.com (Photo source: the company)