Romanian investors acquire Gazprom-linked fuel station network in Romania

Romanian businessmen Iulian Stanciu and Adrian Crețoiu have effectively taken over the Gazprom-connected network of 19 fuel stations in Romania. They achieved this by purchasing NIS Petrol, the local subsidiary of Serbia’s Naftna Industrija Srbije, which was previously controlled indirectly by Gazprom and Gazprom Neft. The transaction was cleared by the Competition Council, with Argenta SRL holding a 60% stake for Crețoiu and a 40% stake for Stanciu, the former head of eMAG.

In addition, the duo controls Foraj Sonde Videle, a company that recently absorbed Raffles Energy, a UK holding that owns two Romanian natural-gas and electricity producers. Gazprom’s Russian shareholders were forced to divest their stakes after U.S. sanctions, prompting NIS to withdraw from the Bulgarian and Romanian markets and enter preventive concordat proceedings. The Romanian operation also manages six oil-and-gas concessions in the country’s western region.