Serbia: Petrol market, Does Serbia have too many gas stations?

Published on 11. December 2013., News Serbia Energy

Does Serbia have too many gas stations compared to 2.2 million vehicles that every day move at roads? It is expected construction of another seventy ones at Corridor 10. Falls fuel sale

SERBIA with 7.565.761 inhabitants, has about 2.2 million vehicles on its roads (cars, motorcycles, buses, trucks, commercial vehicles), which are “charged” at more than 1.100 gas stations and LP G(Liquefied Petroleum Gas)filling stations.

There are too many, as they would say “on every corner”, or it only seems so since we often see them even where they should not be located?

– According to our latest analysis, there are exactly 1.115 gas stations in Serbia, and is it a lot or a little, I cannot say, because there are no rules on their number per kilometer. In any case, it is too much for this level of derivatives traffic, which from day to day, from year to year has decreased – explained Tomislav Micovic, general secretary of the Association of Serbian oil company.

Gas stations were sprouted like mushrooms here in nineties. Now there are a little less, but with the completion of Corridor 10, on which there are currently 37 gas stations, it is expected building of another seventy ones!

It should be noted that our market of petroleum products has been liberalized for more than two years. Each company determines by itself the price in its retail network, but the drivers do not have any benefit from it, because the biggest player NIS, dictates the price, and everybody is trying to be “somewhere there” with its prices.

If we compare with the region, BiH also has too many gas stations as well as Serbia regarding number of its habitants, road network, and number of registered vehicles. In the Republic of Serbia there are 389 and 695 in BiH Federation. In Croatia, which has a much smaller population and number of registered vehicles, but with much better road network, it is poured out in 798 gas stations. Slovenians have fewer than 600. In Macedonia there are more in recent years, and according to the latest data- 967. Bulgarians have a little over 2.500, Romanians 2.458, and developed Austria has 2.716.

Source; Serbia Energy