MOSCOW, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Russian energy company Lukoil said it sold off its service stations in Hungary, the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic as part of an optimization strategy.
Hungarian energy company MOL acquired 44 retail service centers from Lukoil. It builds on a similar acquisition in the country from Italian energy company Eni, giving it 319 service stations in the Czech Republic.
Rival company Norm Benzinkut purchased 75 filling stations in Hungary and 19 in Slovakia.
The Russian energy company said the sales were part of an effort to streamline its asset base in Central Europe.
"The decision to sell the assets was taken as part of the effort to optimize LUKOIL's business in petroleum-product marketing," the company said in a statement Monday.
Lukoil last week made a similar move with its network of filling stations in Ukraine.
Lukoil was spared from the latest round of U.S. and European sanctions targeting Russia's energy secotr in response to the Kremlin's stance on Ukraine.
Terms of the Central European sales weren't disclosed.
