Ljubljana, 04 April (STA) - British oil giant Shell is determined to stay in Slovenia for the long term after it took over 39 MOL and OMV service stations last year, increasing its market share to around 12%. The group is now looking to acquire more sites, especially in central Slovenia and Gorenjska region, northwest.
"Once Shell enters a market, it stays there for a long time," Istvan Kapitany, executive vice-president for mobility at Shell, said at Thursday's event in Ljubljana, which marked the strengthening of Shell presence in Slovenia and the launch of a new fuel.
Shell first entered the Slovenian market in the 1990s with three service stations, which it then sold. It returned after Slovenia joined the EU and had eight diesel stations for trucks until last year.
In 2023, it bought the 39 service stations from Hungary's MOL and Austrian OMV, of which 36 are already operating, with the remaining three to follow in the coming days.
Their 47 service stations will account for Shell's 12% market share in Slovenia, said Shell Adria director Gregor Omejc.
When buying from MOL and OMV, the company could not choose sites, and is currently not present in Ljubljana, and the wish is to expand in central Slovenia and Gorenjska.
The group would like to launch a service station on the Ljubljana ring road, where they already have a site, but it is too early to talk about the timetable, Omejc said.
When taking over the MOL and OMV service stations, Shell said it would gradually build them up into sustainable mobility centres with charging stations for e-vehicles.
Omejc could not say when this would happen, but highlighted an EU regulation under which major European corridors will have to have a charging station every 60 kilometres. "When the need arises, Shell will have them in Slovenia," he said today.
Shell is present in 80 countries and is rapidly expanding its network of charging stations, annually investing EUR 500 million, said Kapitany.
It is also involved in production and development of alternative fuels, such as biofuels and hydrogen. However, no hydrogen charging stations are planned for Slovenia in the near future, he said.
While Shell has 47 service stations, MOL has 133 and Slovenian energy firm Petrol 318. There are also a handful of smaller private operators.
Shell bought the 39 service stations from MOL after the Hungarian company had to sell some of its newly acquired OMV service stations under EU competition rules.
