St1 expands into Poland

In a move that will boost its international expansion plans, private Finnish energy company St1 has opened its first petrol station in Poland.

With 270 petrol stations in Finland, St1 has begun seeking growth abroad. The company has already extended its business to Sweden, where it has 36 petrol stations, and, with the opening of its first station in Ruda Slaska, can now claim a presence in Poland as well.

Commenting on the launch, Juha Kokko, managing director at St1, said, Poland has a population of almost 40 million people, which is four times the amount in Sweden, for example, but the number of petrol stations and the consumption of fuel are at the same levels as they are in Sweden. We believe that Poland has room for a new, efficient supplier who can reward motorists with affordable prices.

St1’s proprietary Stream system will be employed at the new site. The technology allows the company to manage petrol stations in different countries from a single control center in Helsinki. Indeed, St1 boasts that, thanks to the system, only three people are needed to manage its 306 service stations.

In addition to expanding geographically, St1 has also been branching out into new business areas, having begun selling electricity to private households in Finland in 2005.