Russian Gazprom Neft Lubricants signed a lubes distribution contract with Ghabbour Auto, a large automobile assembler and dealer in Egypt.
Egypt has a huge economic potential. Its finished lubricant market has annual growth of 4 percent and at present it amounts to around 430,000 tons, Alexandar Trukhan, general director of Gazprom Neft Lubricants, said in a Jan. 28 press release. This year we are planning to occupy up to 2 percent of the countrys finished lubes market, and it will let us to strengthen our position in the African market.
Gazprom Neft Lubricants is the lubricants arm of Moscow-based Russian oil major Gazprom Neft. The Egyptian deal will represent the energy majors product debut on the Egyptian market, and Ghabour Auto is confident in the success of the Russian lubes sales in the country.
Our company owns the biggest aftermarket service and maintenance centers network in Egypt. We are always ready to offer our customers a wide range of automotive lubricants for passenger cars, light and heavy duty vehicles. We also offer technology solutions for automobile production plants and car service companies, said Amr Hafez, head of Ghabour Autos lubricants department.
The company is also Egypts leading dealer of Bajaj Autos three wheeler motorcycles. Thanks to this partnership, we are confident we can make a breakthrough in the regions two and three wheeler segment, with oils for two-stroke and four-stroke engines, said Gazprom Neft Lubricants.
Ghabour Auto Group is a leading Egyptian assembler and distributor of the Japanese Mazda, Korean Hyundai and Chinese Geely cars in the regions of North Africa and Middle East. It also assembles and markets commercial vehicles and construction equipment. The company partners with such automotive industry names as Volvo, Mitsubishi, Marcopolo, Iveco, Yokohoma and Westlake.
Gazpromneft Lubricants in 2012 produced around 450,000 tons of base oil and lubricants and held a 14 percent share of Russias lubricants market. Its products are sold in around 40 countries in north and eastern Europe, Central Asia, as well as in the Caribbean (Dominican Republic). It operates five base oil and lubricants production facilities in Russia, Italy and Serbia.