Gazprom Neft commissioned 92 new filling stations in Russia in 2019, expanding its network’s geographic coverage to now include 44 of Russia’s regions, with filling stations commencing operations in seven new districts — the Kursk, Lipetsk and Voronezh Oblasts, and the Republics of Bashkortostan, Mordovia, Tatarstan and Chuvashia.

A key area in developing road infrastructure has involved the construction of full-service filling stations on major Russian highways, with Gazprom Neft commissioning four stations on the federal M-11 highway. A joint project was also launched in conjunction with international fast-food networks to update a filling station in St Petersburg, allocating a larger café area, and creating a drive-in service line, with the number of clients at this station increasing by nine percent as a result.

Alongside the service stations clients are familiar with (i.e., offering a café and a shop) the company is also introducing new— “full-service” and “mixed” filling-station formats. Thanks to their small size, full-service filling stations can be located within retail and entertainment centres and town and city neighbourhoods. These full-service stations — developed exclusively in Russia — are fully compliant with the latest requirements in environmental and industrial safety. They are capable of handling up to 350 cars per day.

Gazprom Neft became the first fuel retailer in 2019 in Russia to launch a “mixed”-service format for operating filling stations, with outlets operating as full-service stations during the day, and operating as automatic service stations at night. Sales of motor fuels increased by two percent once filling stations switched to the “mixed” format.

«We have demonstrated the qualitative development of our retail business this year — entering new regions, launching several station formats, and placing our bets on developing digital client-communication channels. We can see the demand from motorists for convenient offerings and services at our stations. More than 1.5 million people are already actively using the Gazprom Neft filling station mobile app. Eighteen percent of all network customers in 2019 made purchases through digital channels — through the virtual АЗС.GO co-branded card, and the network’s mobile app».

Oleg Kuzmenkov Head of the Gazprom Neft filling station network in Russia and the CIS