UK-based oil and gas company BP’s aviation fuel services division, Air BP, has inked an agreement with Grupa Lotos to set up a joint venture (JV) to manage the supply, logistics and marketing of aviation fuel in Poland.

The new JV called Lotos – Air BP Polska will be established once Air BP will acquire 50% interest in Grupa Lotos’ wholly-owned aviation subsidiary, Lotos Tank.

Lotos – Air BP Polska will operate initially at Gdansk (GDN), Warsaw (WAW) and Krakow (KRK) airports and grow its presence in the aviation fuel market of Poland.

The JV is expected to benefit from Air BP’s global customer relationships and technical operations experience, as well as from Grupa Lotos’ local expertise and supply capability.

Air BP chief executive David Gilmour said the company is looking for new opportunities to grow.

"Poland is the country with the fastest growing aviation fuel sales in Europe and we have found a strong, local partner in Lotos. As always our top priority is going to be managing safe and reliable operations," Gilmour added.

"We will share our technical knowledge to assist the joint venture to operate to industry standards and ensure that everyone who works at the airport locations stays safe."

Lotos Group management board vice-president and chief commercial officer Maciej Szozda said, "The beginning of our cooperation with Air BP not only gives Lotos a possibility of competitive development in Poland, but also, and more importantly, is a great opportunity for foreign expansion, which we will surely utilise."

Subject to authority approval, the deal is expected to be completed in the next six to eight weeks.