Farmers Union seek investor for 600 ageing petrol stations

The Farmers Unions (SKR) are planning to create the second largest network of gas stations under the KR logo by 2005. The plan appears impressive, but in reality is unlikely to pose a threat to the position of existing market players. Most of the 600 gas stations owned by the Unions are in desperate need of modernization. The average cost of refitting each station is anything between zl. 1 - 5 million, which means that the program will cost close to zl. 1 billion. As SKR's annual revenues only amount to zl. 1.5 billion, to finance the project, "We have started talks with a partially state-owned investor," said Jan Grygienc, the general director of the Farmers Union Association. Negotiations appear to be advancing well, but no agreements have been reached yet. An investor would supply the stations with fuel and have a share of future profits. "We do not want to sell our gas stations, all we need is capital," said Wladyslaw Serafin, the Association's president. (Puls Biznesu, pp. 1, 4) M.M.