Gazprom Neft expands its regional network and takes over OMV's filling stations in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina?

Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of the world’s biggest natural-gas producer Gazprom, is interested in buying OMV’s filling stations in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia, Bloomberg reports.

“We will pursue projects if they create added value,” Deputy Chief Executive Officer Vadim Yakovlev said today in St. Petersburg, adding that Gazprom Neft had the “financial capacity” for acquisitions.

OMV, a Vienna-based oil company plans to sell its Balkan subsidiaries as it seeks to dispose of 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) of less profitable assets. The Croatian unit has 63 filling stations and a market share of about 13 percent, while in Bosnia, OMV has 28 filling stations and an 8 percent share.

The sale has also attracted interest from Zarubezhneft, a Russian oil-pipeline operator, which said last month that it had submitted an offer for the filling stations in Bosnia- Herzegovina and Croatia.