Aral plans expansion to capture 9% of Polish fuel market

German fuel vendor Aral plans development to capture a 9% share of Poland’s fuel market in 2003-2004, says Reinhard Gorenflos of the company’s management board. With 103 gas stations currently in operation in Poland, Aral has already spent euro 200 million and plans to more than double the total to 220 stations in a couple of years. Aral is the fourth biggest foreign fuel company in Poland, behind Shell, BP Amoco and Statoil. Recently Aral sold 400 of its gas stations in Belgium, Switzerland and France, turning to investments in Austria, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia worth approximately DM 1 billion, with nearly 400 gas stations in the region. Half of the fuel sold by Aral in Poland is produced by Polish refineries and enriched by Aral, while the other half is imported from the Schwedt refinery. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p.28) M.T.