Romanian business starts to attack foreign markets

The recently announced entry of Romanian businessman Gabriel Comănescu onto the Mexican market with two oil platforms shows that Romanian businesspeople are starting to be increasingly internationally-minded and are more bravely tapping into foreign markets previously out of their reach.

Comănescu is in fact one of the Romanian businesspeople with the strongest foreign operations. Grup Servicii Petroliere (GSP), a company controlled by Comănescu, announced on Wednesday it had won a long-term contract, following an international auction, as a result of which two off-shore drilling platforms of the company will drill in national Mexican waters for Pemex, the biggest Mexican oil company. GSP also has contracts with Gazprom, the world’s biggest natural gas producer, as well as with Turkey’s national oil company, TPAO. GSP posted a 217 million-euro turnover in 2009, ranking third, after InterAgro and Oltchim, among the biggest Romanian-controlled exporters.