Rapid Growth in Romania
The “Kremsmueller Romania” company, founded as recently as 2006, is awarded the EMSR [electrical, instrumentation and control engineering] framework agreement from Petrom.
More than 3 million euro has been invested so far in the subsidiary founded in 2006 in Ploiesti. Over the long term, “Kremsmueller Romania” is expected to contribute up to 20% to the group’s revenue.
During recent weeks, the process of hiring 284 new employees at the Kremsmueller Romania subsidiary was successfully completed, enabling Ploiesti to start the new year with a total of 370 employees. The main reason for the rapid growth is a framework agreement with the OMV-subsidiary Petrom, currently getting underway.
In concrete terms, the agreement covers maintenance and installation work in the electrical, instrumentation and control engineering area (EMSR) for two refineries. Work in the Petrom Arpechim (Pitesti) refinery is entirely entrusted to Kremsmueller. For the sister refinery Petrobrazi, located about 130 kilometers away in Ploiesti, Kremsmueller was put in charge of a series of key areas.
The two refineries form the backbone of Petrom in Romania. Together, they account for approximately 35% of the Romanian crude oil production. The new owner of OMV has set ambitious goals for these refineries. The crude oil group wants to further increase capacities and optimize production efficiencies, following the Schwechat model.
The Petrom/Kremsmueller collaboration began in mid 2006. A project in the Arpechim refinery was the impetus for founding the new foreign subsidiary with 11 technicians and site superintendents. OMV has relied on the services of the Upper Austrian family enterprise Kremsmueller, founded in 1961, for decades. From its base in Schwechat, not too far from the refinery, Kremsmueller provides the oil group with services such as pipeline construction, industrial installations, tank construction, EMSR and filling station technology.
“In the future, we also want to offer the full spectrum of our services in Romania,” says Managing Director Karl Strauss. “I’m assuming that in the long run Kremsmueller Romania will contribute about 20% to the group’s revenue. We will therefore be targeting a diversified customer base.”
Social project within a stone’s throw of the new subsidiary
Every year Kremsmueller undertakes an extensive social project, extending over a period of up to six months. This year, the “Concordia” organization of Austrian Father Georg Sporschill was the grateful recipient of the support. The “City of Children,” where about 90 children and young people with difficult pasts find a new home, lies in the immediate vicinity of Kremsmueller in Ploiesti.
The creations from a ceramics workshop of the children’s village have already won numerous awards. With focused investments, Kremsmueller helps Concordia to become even more professional. The company’s own IT and electrical experts set up a state-of-the-art computer room, giving the young people the opportunity to learn skills indispensable in their professional life. Later, an Internet shop in this room will be used to market the ceramics from the workshop. And finally, the successful karate team in the village will receive new training equipment. Training, by the way, is headed by the coach of the Romanian national team, Nicolae Aurelian. “Now we can even have competitions here in the children’s village. The equipment is better than that of the national team,” Aurelian said proudly.
“Just the thing for mental, physical and manual-dexterity skills,” is how Junior Executive Gregor Kremsmueller describes the project. “Romania has been good to us. With this project for Romanian children, we would like to thank the country,” says Kremsmueller. The value of the project is approximately 45,000 EUR.
Read more about Petrom’s ambitious goals at omv.com
Numbers and facts about Petrom can be found here petrom.com
To find out more about the work of Concordia, visit concordia.co.at