“We are monitoring developments, but we are not worried,” Motor Oil chairman and chief executive Giannis Vardinoyannis said today in response to shareholder questions at the company’s annual general meeting on the Israel-Iran conflict.

Vardinoyannis added that forecasting oil prices is difficult: “If the issue that is currently there doesn’t grow and expand outside of Iran and Israel, it will return to normal levels. There is a possibility that it will derail, in which case, too many things will change. We are not talking about an attack in the Strait of Hormuz; it will be very different. The key issue we will all have to deal with will be the security of supply.”

On the company’s strategy to expand retail sales at stores, he said it was part of the plan to boost the profitability of the stations by offering non-fuel products. “We see that there is a big profit margin in these products. We are trying to bring the stations close to international standards, and that is why we are
building on products like coffee and small retail. We are not just in energy, and we are not only focused on green energy, which is an important pillar,r but there are other areas in the traditional space which we are also looking at.”
He said.

The group chief also noted that the company does not buy shares to support the price, but has been supporting the stock over time, in practice, by investing.

Motor Oil’s deputy managing director, Petros Tzannetakis, spoke of an international environment with less predictability and greater opportunities to take business initiatives.

“Economies and capital markets are in a repositioning phase and geopolitical liquidity is affecting investment flows and corporate behavior,” he noted. “As such, the funding opportunities for listed companies, such as Motor Oil, are trending upwards. Motor Oil operates with flexibility in raising capital for strategic investments. Consistency, strategy, and flexibility, along with quick reaction to new long-term trends, are critical factors for survival and performance.”
He stressed.

Tzannetakis also referred to the lowering of regulatory barriers in the US, which creates new ground for investment in infrastructure such as refineries and energy in general.

He also reiterated that the group’s strategy is based on three areas of activity (fuels, electricity, and circular economy) and as part of this strategy, the group has entered in recent years into sectors such as energy storage, wind farms, waste management, and green hydrogen. Furthermore, he noted that there are no plans to list the More subsidiary on the stock exchange.

For 2025, the company plans to invest 200 million euros in the restoration of the crude refining plant after the accident in September 2024, the completion of the new propylene production plant, and the construction of the new electrolysis plant for hydrogen production, which is expected to be completed in one year. In addition, the commercial operation of the new 877 MW natural gas plant in Komotini, in which Motor Oil has a 50% stake, will start later this year.

The General Meeting approved the distribution of a dividend of EUR 1.4 per share. The group’s investments are expected to reach 500 million euros.