* Interview with Radu Petrescu, Communications Manager of "Upetrom Group"

Reporter: How did the operations of "Upetrom" go last year, compared to 2010?

Radu Petrescu: "Upetrom" has continued its operations following the same rising trend which it had immediately after its creation. In 2011, the companies which are part of the "Upetrom Group" have met some of their strategic goals, such as bringing new products and services to new markets and the creation of new branches, intended to support the operations which those companies are conducting all over the world. If we were to discuss just one of the companies which belong to the "Upetrom Group" - GSP - we could easily prove what has been said above: since 2011, GSP has been conducting operations in the Mexic Gulf with two sea drilling platforms, "GSP Orizont" and "GSP Atlas", it has provided services in the Northern Pacific, as part of the Sakhalin III project, has expanded its area of operation in the Mediterranean Sea basin, by entering the Tunisian market and has set-up branches in Great Britain, Holland, Mexico and Tunisia.

Reporter: What was your strategy for overcoming the period of economic crisis?

Radu Petrescu: The crisis contributed to a rearrangement of the values on the global market, and has validated the efforts made by "Upetrom" and our development policy. Given the great variety of products and services of the offer which "Upetrom Group" brings to the market, as well as the fact that we are targeting the global market, the crisis period has been overcome by boosting our activity in the areas where demand was the heaviest. The diversification of services is another card which proved to be beneficial in this period: "Upetrom Group" entered the market for the development of wind farms, on sea as well as on land. The group's member companies have drawn up an offer which includes ma