Turkey’s Petrol Ofisi announces new chief executive officer

Petrol Ofisi, Turkey’s leading distributor of fuels and lubricants which is owned by VIP Turkey Holding B.V., a subsidiary of Vitol Investment Partnership Ltd, has appointed Mehmet Abbasoğlu as its new chief executive officer (CEO) effective September 1, 2022. 

He succeeds Selim Siper who will move to a non-executive position on September 1. 2022.  Abbasoğlu is currently chief financial officer (CFO) of Petrol Ofisi.

Siper steps down as chief executive officer after five years with the company, during which he led the revitalisation of the Petrol Ofisi brand and the consolidation of the company’s leading position in Turkey. He will remain a board member of Petrol Ofisi and has recently been appointed as a board member of Vivo Energy, Vitol’s African downstream company.

Abbasoğlu has more than 30 years’ experience in the finance, telecommunications and energy sectors.  He joined Vitol in 2016 from Société Générale in London, UK, and became CFO of Petrol Ofisi after its acquisition by Vitol. Prior to this, he worked in senior roles at Macquarie, J.P. Morgan and Turkcell. 

Since joining Petrol Ofisi, Abbasoğlu has overseen the streamlining and digitalisation of the finance department and led a number of key business initiatives, including the company’s development of new digital consumer finance, fintech start-ups and a broader range of non-fuel services.

“We are most grateful to Selim for his outstanding leadership over the last five years. Petrol Ofisi has evolved into a market leader fit to take on the dual challenges of a fast-growing market and the energy transition. We are pleased we shall continue to benefit from his expertise at board level,” said Javed Ahmed, chair, Petrol Ofisi and head of Investments.

“We are delighted to appoint Mehmet as his successor and very much look forward to working with him and his management team on the next phase of Petrol Ofisi’s development.”