Two options have emerged as a potential buyer of the Gazprom chain of gas station in Bulgaria: a Serbian and a Bulgarian company.
The Serbian option comes from a statement of Dušan Bajatović, CEO of Serbian state-run company SrbijaGas, who recently announced plans for "possible expansion of the company's activities through the purchase of the Russian network of gas stations in Bulgaria and Romania."
However, a Bulgarian option is also possible. Sources told the Capital Weekly that the Bulgarian candidate, Uni Energy, with majority owner Ivaylo Konstantinov, has advanced in the sales process. Konstantinov used to head the Union Ivkoni bus company. He is also leader of the GERB party structure in the town of Dupnitsa and a former member of parliament. He operates a chain of gas stations under the Avia brand and if the deal with Uni Energy is finalized, the Gazprom locations will rebrand to Avia.
Anatomy of the sale
The previous favorite, EKO, bidding via its Greek parent company, is now a bit further behind. Other candidates included a Greek investor, backed by Motor Oil Hellas, and Bulgarian wholesaler GTA Petroleum.
Gazprom operates its retail network through its Serbian subsidiary, Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS), with the business in Bulgaria run through NIS Petrol.
The Bulgarian package includes 23 Gazprom-branded gas stations, a fuel storage facility in Kostinbrod and 12 land plots. NIS Petrol is the seventh largest chain in Bulgaria in terms of revenue with a turnover of just over 150 million levs (75 million euro) for 2023, down 31.4% year on year. In recent years it has been operating at a loss.
The sales process began in the fall of 2023, with an estimated price tag of over 30 million euro.
The first potential buyer
Uni Energy is majority-owned by Ivaylo Konstantinov, who previously headed the Union Ivkoni bus company. In 2019, when Union Ivkoni merged with two of its major rivals, Etap Address and Group Plus, Konstantinov announced he would establish a gas station chain.
Operating under the Avia brand, the chain is run in a franchise-like model. Uni Energy is a partner in Avia Bulgaria, alongside Swiss company Avia International and a third partner, TTN Commerce. As of last summer, 8 out of its 13 locations were operated by Uni Energy. Therefore, if the deal goes through, Konstantinov's Avia locations will number more than 30.
Uni Energy has a capital of 1 million levs. Its revenues for 2023 came in at 15.7 million levs and the profit was 302,000 levs.
Last May Uni Energy welcomed a new minority partner, Vip Station. The company is solely owned by Ranko Klacar and was founded in September 2023. According to Konstantinov, Klacar has no experience in the fuel business and is involved in construction and property management. The Commercial Register shows that Klacar is a partner in several companies with Radoslav Ivanov, who is currently the sole owner and manager of Ipon 1, a security company founded in the early 90s by GERB leader and former prime minister Boyko Borisov.
A company under sanctions
In early 2009 Russia's Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of Gazprom, completed the deal to acquire a majority stake in state-owned NIS, with Russian ownership reaching 56.15%. The Serbian government is the second largest shareholder with a stake of 29.87%. In the Balkans market, NIS runs a network of over 400 gas stations under two brands: NIS Petrol and the premium Gazprom brand. The company has retail outlets not only in Bulgaria and Serbia but also in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Romania. NIS imports crude oil for its refinery in Pancevo through the Adria pipeline from the terminal on the Adriatic island of Krk operated by Croatia's Jadranski Naftovod (Janaf
In an effort to pressure Russia, on January 10 the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on the Russian oil sector, specifically on Gazprom Neft, giving the company 45 days to divest its ownership in NIS. When the sanctions were announced, Gazprom Neft owned a 50% stake in NIS, while Gazprom held a 6.15% stake. Gazprom was not targeted by the sanctions.
Following NIS's first request to lift the sanctions on February 27, OFAC delayed their enforcement by 30 days to allow NIS to reach a solution with the Russian companies. On February 26 Gazprom Neft transferred 5.15% of its shares in NIS to Gazprom in an attempt to avoid sanctions. A new delay to the sanctions is now in effect until June 27.
Recently Dušan Bajatović said that the refinery in Niš has not committed any violations and does not import Russian oil. He also emphasized the importance of continuing operations at Serbia's sole oil refinery for the security of energy supplies. He added that SrbijaGas could take over the management of the Russian commercial network abroad or lease it out, preserving Russian ownership.
Two options have emerged as a potential buyer of the Gazprom chain of gas station in Bulgaria: a Serbian and a Bulgarian company.
The Serbian option comes from a statement of Dušan Bajatović, CEO of Serbian state-run company SrbijaGas, who recently announced plans for "possible expansion of the company's activities through the purchase of the Russian network of gas stations in Bulgaria and Romania."
