LUKoil, Russia's largest privatized oil company, has officially opened its first gas station in Moscow, with Western-style pumps and facilities to accommodate the capital's growing army of motorists.
"We need 250 such stations in Moscow," the city's Mayor, Yury Luzhkov, told reporters Wednesday at the opening of the modern LUKoil pumps on Dimitrivskoye Shosse.
The new station, which was not yet pumping gas as of Thursday, is Moscow's second to be built on the Western model. An AGIP station offering automotive service and a mini-mart opened on the road to Sheremetevo-2 airport last year.
LUKoil President Vagit Alek-perov said his company planned to build 500 petrol stations across Russia. Company official Yury Pyatkinsaid another three or four would be built in Moscow next year and five more in 1996. (Reuters, MT)
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