OREANDA-NEWS. July 23, 2013. As of the end of the first half of 2013 there were 630 filling stations belonging to TATNEFT Group of companies with 508 facilities located in the territory of the Russian Federation, 114 in the territory of Ukraine and 8 filling stations located in the Republic of Belarus.

The volume of retail and small-scale wholesale of petroleum and gas products through the network of JSC TATNEFT's filling stations amounted to 730.9 thousand tons for the first half of the year. All kinds of motor fuels, oils of JSC TATNEFT and tire products of "Nizhnekamskshina" are sold through the retail distribution network.

One of the priority tasks for TATNEFT's filling stations is ensuring the high quality of petroleum products. The quality control of petroleum products is performed at all the stages of the fuel movement from the refinery to the Company's filling stations. Initial checks are performed at the branches by the commissions established, stationary certified laboratories and the persons responsible for monitoring and maintaining the quality of petroleum products. The second stage of control is implemented by the Management Company: a petroleum products quality control group, a mobile laboratory and a standing commission composed of technical experts.

Many gas stations of TATNEFT sell diesel fuel and gasoline of the 5th ecological grade. The international Euro-5 standard sets stringent requirements for the fuel quality. The higher the grade of the fuel, the cleaner is gasoline: the impact of vehicles on the ecological environment significantly reduces and the lifetime of the car increases.

In order to prevent the evaporation of the fuel vapors there are fuel dispensers with a vapor return system at the filling stations of TATNEFT, and the service station vapor recovery system is being implemented as well. The principle of the technology implies collection of evaporated air/ gas mixture when refueling vehicles and returning it to the process vessel. In the first place, the mentioned and other advanced environmental technologies will be primarily applied at the filling stations located in the cities and towns. Along with this vapor recovery units were tested which demonstrated up to 97% efficiency.

A pilot project to install solar panels was implemented at one filling station as part of the resource and energy saving program. The first solar module appeared at filling station number 71 located not far from Kazan. Application of the solar energy collector's technology allows producing electricity for lighting and technological purposes. A decision on the project extension will be taken based on the analysis of the module's efficiency.

They accept fuel cards of TATNEFT as well as cards of several partner companies for payment at the Company's filling stations. Bank cards are also accepted to pay for the fuel purchased. Discount cards are popular among customers allowing them to buy petroleum products at a fixed discount at the TATNEFT's filling stations in any region of the country. The filling stations also offer the customers a set of additional services: free tires inflation and a vacuum cleaner.

The Company has increased in the current year the investments for modernization of the retail distribution chain in order to improve customers' servicing.