The Romanian Petrotel Ploiesti refinery, controlled by Russian group Lukoil, posted a net profit of nearly RON 300 million (EUR 66.1 million) last year, 20 times higher than the one reported in 2015, according to a company’s document.

Petrotel thus recorded profit for the second year in a row, after the company had previously accumulated losses of RON 3.4 billion (EUR 750 million) and was investigated for tax evasion and money laundering in a criminal record opened by the DIICOT Ploiesti prosecutors three years ago.

The official document doesn’t mention the turnover of Petrotel Lukoil in 2016. One year before, the refinery had a turnover of EUR 957 million, down a third compared to 2014.

The company’s management plans to ask the shareholders of Petrotel not to distribute dividends this year. Instead it wants to use the profit to cover some of the losses from the previous years.

In March, the chairman of Petrotel's Supervisory Board resigned after being advanced within the parent company. Rustem Gimaletdinov, a former general manager of the Russian refinery Ukhta, replaced him.

editor@romania-insider.com