BUCHAREST, December 3, 2015 – Antares Group, one of the most popular groups of companies with Romanian capital, announces the opening of the first compressed natural gas (CNG) filling station in Romania. The total investment was 3.2 million euro, a sum that includes the purchase of a property strategically located in Ramnicu Valcea near the E81 European route, close to a natural gas pipeline, the purchase of 20 buses, that are filled with GNC and the construction of the CNG filling station itself.

“Antares bets on natural gas as a fuel of the future and, as known that LPG cannot be used for diesel vehicles, this business represents a viable alternative to classic fuels, because it brings efficiency in fuel economy. I am convinced that in the near future, in Romania, we will develop CNG filling stations networks. This way, the number of vehicles that are using this fuel will significantly increase and we think that it will be a major concern for installing on vehicles, especially for commercial carriers, the dual systems fuel mixed by injection of gas in traditional fuel, yielding a considerable saving of fuel costs. Dual systems will be installed in our service network, “said Dumitru Becsenescu, President of Antares Group.

As part of the development strategy, Antares Group intends, in the future, to continue to invest in this area, to create a national network of 14 CNG stations, the second city concerned being Bucharest. The network will allow users to travel anywhere in the country and in Europe, especially since all EU countries have already CNG station networks.

Romania was, so far, the only European Union country that did not have filling stations for cars that run on compressed natural gas, although there is an European directive which says that by 2020, all Member States must have such stations in their national roads network at every 150 km distance. “The lack of appetite for investment in this area was justified by three factors: first, the absence of a market, too high costs, knowing that a station costs about 500,000 euro and, not the least, because of an indefinite legislation in this area until recently ” , said Dumitru Becsenescu, President of Antares Group.

Antares Group has seized this opportunity and overcome all difficulties due to the desire to invest, to existing experience in a field somehow similar, the one of LPG, and also thanks to the existence of a transportation company in the companies group. This way, it was thought an integrated business with a strong foundation for the future.

Compressed Natural Gas vehicles pollute up to 30 % less and are 50-70 % quieter than diesel -engine cars. A car powered by compressed natural gas has a range of up to 500 km and is on average 50% more economical. Regarding safety, such a car is ranked first because compressed natural gas is lighter than air, non-toxic and hard turns, reducing the risk of accidents.

About Antares Group
Antares Group was established in 1994 and it’s headquarter is in Ramnicu Valcea. Today, the group includes 10 companies with about 600 employees, performing different activities as transport, car service, tourism, construction, processing and selling petroleum products. The group’s strategy is to develop sustainable business by continuously improving product and service quality, to increase profitability and decrease operational costs. More information about Antares Group and the first CNG filling station can be found here: http://antares-group.ro , http://natural-gas.ro/antares .