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The Polish ORLEN Group has entered the Hungarian market, taking over a total of 143 Hungarian petrol stations, ORLEN told MTI on Thursday. The move follows the finalization of the acquisition of Grupa LOTOS and the conclusion of an agreement with the Hungarian Mol Group to take over part of the stations.
According to the information, 79 petrol stations have already been taken over by the ORLEN group and are currently operating under the LUKOIL brand. The remaining 64 stations will be taken over gradually until mid-2024. At the same time, the ORLEN group will take over 39 service stations in Slovakia from the Hungarian oil and gas company Mol Group, bringing the total number of stations in the neighboring country to 91 in 2023, the company said.
Following the completion of the Mol transaction, ORLEN Group will operate more than 660 service stations in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary.
The Polish company will be the market leader in the Czech Republic with 430 service stations and one of the four largest players in Slovakia and Hungary.
In total, ORLEN operates nearly 3,000 service stations in six European countries – Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Slovakia, and now Hungary.
On Thursday, Mol reported on the Budapest Stock Exchange website that it had successfully closed the agreement with ORLEN Unipetrol and Norm Benzinkút Kft. As part of the transactions, the Hungarian oil company will sell 143 filling stations in Hungary and 39 in Slovakia. The total agreed purchase price is €229 million, which will be paid during the handover process.
Mol said on Wednesday that it had successfully concluded the agreement with PKN Orlen and Grupa Lotos, acquiring more than 410 service stations in Poland. In January of this year, the Hungarian oil company announced that it had signed a contract with Grupa Lotos SA and PKN Orlen for the purchase of filling stations in Poland. According to the announcement at the time, the deal will make Mol a dominant player in the Polish retail fuel market, with more filling stations than in Hungary. The Polish transaction will make Mol the tenth country in which it will enter with its retail business.
Featured photo via Facebook/PKN Orlen