NIS, Gazprom Neft’s Serbian unit, expands to Bulgaria

The Serbian subsidiary of Russian oil company Gazprom Neft, Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS), has purchased an oil depot in Bulgaria as part of its expansion program; no details on the financial aspect of the deal have been provided. The depot, with an area of 90,000 square meters, has a 25,500-cubic-meter capacity for storage of diesel fuel, gasoline, LNG, biodiesel and ethanol.
NIS also has plans to expand its storage capacities in Bulgaria in the next three years, as part of its strategic plan to export oil products that meet Euro 5 emission standards from Serbia. The company also envisions the development of a retail chain in the country. NIS, in which Russia’s Gazprom Neft holds a majority share of 56.15%, owns two oil refineries in Serbia, one at Pancevo and another in Novi Sad. The two refineries had a combined output of 57,000 barrels per day in 2011. Both are currently undergoing major renovation. (October 12, 2012)