Ukrnafta inks deal with ARMA to take over management of arrested Glusco gas station brand
The Ukrnafta company has officially become the new manager of the former chain of Glusco gas stations, which were under the control of Naftogaz Oil Trading LLC and were partially under the U.GO brand, reported the press service of Ukrnafta.
"After the conclusion of the contract, the process of actually transferring Glusco's assets to management should begin. It will take some time," said Ukrnafta director Serhiy Koretskyi, who at one time was the director of another gas station network, WOG.
The terms of the contract provide that 85% of the net profit from gas station management will be received by the state, and Ukrnafta will receive 15%.
In addition, Ukrnafta undertook to pay a monthly guarantee fee of UAH 5 million ($135,284). This is the minimum that will be transferred to the state budget.
According to Ukrnafta, the gas station network acquired by it includes 100 gas stations in different regions of Ukraine and in different conditions. Ukrnafta itself is one of the three leaders in the retail fuel market of Ukraine, its network consists of 456 operating gas stations.
The Glusco network was created on the basis of former Rosneft gas stations, which operated under the brands Formula, TNK, Golden Cheetah, and Smile. In 2016, Rosneft decided to sell them to the Swiss Proton Energy group of businessman Nissan Moiseev, who was informally associated with Viktor Medvedchuk.
In the spring of 2022, Glusco gas stations were arrested.
In May 2022, the Ukrainian government decided to transfer the property of Glusco Ukraine LLC and Glusco Retail LLC to the management of Naftogaz Oil Trading LLC. This decision was explained by the emergence of an emergency situation in the energy sector, that is, a shortage of gasoline and diesel fuel.
In September 2022, Naftogaz Oil Trading began to restore the operation of gas stations of the Glusco network under the U.GO brand, but in August 2023, ARMA terminated the contract with the company, citing low contributions.
On September 13, 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers decided to transfer the Glusco gas station to the management of Ukrnafta.