SOCAR, the state -owned oil company from Azerbaijan recently opened its 13th filling station in Romania, all in the Moldova region, and plans to expand countrywide, eying large Romanian cities and capital Bucharest for the end of this year.

The newly opened filling station, in Suceava county in north – east Romania, covers some 2,800 sqm, and is part of a 300 units within three years expansion plan announced earlier for Romania.

The filling station supplies gasoline from Azerbaijan via three pumps, with an extra pump for large vehicles. “SOCAR Romania's national development plan will in a first stage include important cities in Romania, and of course the capital is included in the plan for this year,” said Hamza Karimov, CEO SOCAR Romania.

SOCAR entered the Romanian market by buying local filling stations from Romtranspetrol and re-branding them. The company owns gas stations in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine.

Corina Chirileasa, corina@romania-insider.com