Prista Oil reaches 10% market share

Bulgarian producer and distributor of lubricants Prista Oil has gained ground on the Romanian market, where, according to its own estimates, its market share now stands at 8-10%. “Prista Oil has increased its market share in Romania to somewhere between 8 and 10 percent,” Bulgarian news agency Novinite said, quoting a company official. The Bulgarian company, 25% of which is owned by US petroleum giant Chevron Texaco, has successfully worked its way onto what is a fiercely competitive motor oils market fought over by various petroleum giants, including Exxon Mobil (Esso, Mobil), BP (Aral, Castrol), Total (Elf) and MOL (which is transferring Shell”s Romanian lubricant business to its portfolio). From the local players, Lubrifin Brasov estimates its market share on the lubricants market at 13-15%, with the total market being put at 90-100 million euros a year. Prista Oil”s Romanian operations are handled by its Prista Oil Romania branch, which reported a 6.3 million euro turnover for 2003. Prista Oil was created in 1993 and was developed both as a producer and distributor of industrial and motor oils. It has a factory in Ruse in Bulgaria, close to the Romanian border, with a production capacity of 80,000 tonnes a year. ZF