Lukoil in the black

Russian company Lukoil is the first international operator on the fuel distribution market to announce profit for its Romanian-based business. After all the multinationals (Shell, MOL and Agip) have been reporting losses in the past few years, which they blame on the price policy enforced by the domestic market leader SNP Petrom, Lukoil is logging $2.5m profit for the first five months of the year. “Lukoil has posted $2.5m profit in the first five months of the year. So far, the capital invested in Romania has seen a 0.5% profitability rate,” said Nicolae Ciornai, chairman of Lukoil Romania (the local subsidiary of the Russian group). ZF