At its meeting on September 4, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) granted permission to the private enterprise (PE) Ukrpaletsystem, which operates the UPG gas station network, to acquire control by leasing another 75 gas stations belonging to the ANP and Avias networks, which are part of the Privat group of companies.
This was announced by the head of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU), Pavlo Kyrylenko, on his Facebook page.
“75 applications for permits for Ukrpaletsystem to acquire control over 75 single property complexes—gas stations—were considered at today’s meeting. Positive decisions were made on all applications,” he wrote.
In particular, the AMCU granted Ukrpaletsystem permission to lease 75 gas stations belonging to 14 companies of the Privat group: Aylong Evolution LLC, Albiland, Angel Capital, Eurotrade Expo, Jasmine Trade, Corso Town, Like Invest, Leader Finance, Newport Holding, Perspektiva Pro, Sirius Gold, Sky Project, Sorella Oil, and Taros Group.
As reported, on August 14, the AMCU granted Ukrpaletsystem permission to acquire control by leasing 46 gas stations belonging to the Privat group, 47 on July 31, and 34 on July 10.
According to AMCU Chairman Pavlo Kyrylenko, the UPG gas station chain plans to become the third key player in the fuel market alongside WOG and OKKO.
“UPG has submitted numerous applications to the committee for permission to concentrate. Based on these, we can conclude that it has ambitious plans to become the third key player in the market alongside WOG and OKKO,” he said in an interview with Neftorink.
As he explained, UPG’s strategy is to acquire assets in stages: first by leasing, then by purchasing them.
“According to our calculations, this involves more than 550 properties. But in order to acquire them, the company must again apply to the AMCU and obtain another concentration permit.
It is necessary to closely monitor how this process will take place,” he said.
UPG (Ukrainian Petrol Group) is a Ukrainian network of fuel and recreation complexes operating in 20 regions of the country. It has its own logistics infrastructure, works with direct fuel supplies from leading refineries in Europe and the US, and maintains uniform quality standards at all stages: from laboratory testing of each batch and equipment maintenance to standardized recipes at VIVO cafe.
The company was founded by Volodymyr Petrenko.
AMCU, gas station, PRIVAT, UPG
