Butan Gas reshuffles operations

Butan Gas Romania, the local subsidiary of Butan Gas international group, controlled by businessman Iosif Constantin Dragan, has changed its management team. It hopes to reorganise its operations on the Romanian market in a bid to outrun its rivals, Petrom and Shell Gas Romania.

The decision to change the company’s management team was apparently taken at the highest level by Romania’s richest man, according to as yet unconfirmed information. The move is in line with a strategy change with regard to the Romanian LPG market, in which the firm is currently ranked third with a 20% share, after Petrom and Shell Gas Romania.

In the February-March period, new individuals were introduced into managerial positions at Butan Gas Romania, some of whom had previously trained with multinational firms. The positions taken include that of technical manager (Mircea Pintilie), commercial manager (Calin Nastase), marketing director (Cristian Cimpu), and sales director (Serban Popa). Over the coming period, this team is going to be strengthened by appointments to other key-positions, namely the economic manager and human resources manager. Florin Preda was the only member of the former team to retain his managerial position.

“Butan Gas holds the necessary logistics and ambition to become the leader of the household and industrial LPG distribution market in Romania within the next two-three years. European support and 50 years of expertise are ButanGas Grup’s main strengths. We have a healthy organisational structure, based on performance, loyalty and respect, and our partners are aware of it,” stated Florin Preda, the company’s general manager. Butan Gas, one of the top European LPG distributors, carries out operations on nine continental markets, holding one of the three top positions in each of these markets, according to the company’s representatives.

The short and medium-term “targets” of the new team are to increase the company’s current market share from 20% to 30% by year 2006, a 15% increase in turnover by 2004, the expansion of LPG car filling stations to over 150 outlets and taking the top position by 2005. Other objectives held in view by the company are tripling the stock capacities of their Midia Navodari-based warehouse to 5,000 tonnes in 2005 and entering the Yugoslavian market.

In 2003, Butan Gas Romania posted net profits of 1 million euros amid turnover of 28 million euros.
adrian.mirsanu@zf.ro