Eric Kish leaves Rompetrol

Eric Kish, 45, one of the first Rompetrol employees, who worked for 10 years with Dinu Patriciu, helping him build a petroleum group that now boasts an 8.7 billion-dollar turnover, yesterday stepped down from his position as senior vice-president of the group in charge of services and support function companies, thus leaving the company completely. Kish, a key man within the group, says his departure has nothing to do with Patriciu leaving the Rompetrol group, as he had made his decision a while ago. A month’s holiday lies ahead for the former Israeli army tank officer, perhaps somewhere on a yacht, where he will ponder whether it is worth to ever become an employee again or not. “It was time for me to do this. I’m done! I’ve worked enough. Ten years have been enough. I will take a big break now, until the beginning of September, which I will probably spend on a yacht. I’ve made this decision a long time ago and it has nothing to do with Patriciu’s exit from the Rompetrol business,” says Kish. Eric Kish had been a part of the Rompetrol management team since as early as 1998, when he was recruited by Dinu Patriciu. He was manager of the Petromidia refinery between 2001 and 2005, being responsible for completely restructuring the refinery after its acquisition by Rompetrol. Later, he was marketing and retail vice-president of the group, and, in April this year, he took over as vice-president for services and support services companies. Kish coordinated Rompetrol’s petrol station expansion, from the 11 stations that Petromidia had when it was taken over by Rompetrol, to 450 stations today in Romania.