Petrol says interested in buying Croatian Crobenz

LJUBLJANA Nov 26 (Reuters) - Slovenia's largest fuel retailer Petrol (PETG.LJ) said on Thursday it is interested in buying Crobenz, a small fuel retailer of Croatian oil group Ina INA.ZA (HINAq.L) put up for sale for anti-trust reasons.

"We sent a letter of intent to show that we are interested in the purchase but so far there are no obligations involved," Petrol's spokesman Aleksander Salkic told Reuters. He did not say how much Petrol would be willing to pay for Crobenz.

Petrol is the second largest fuel retailer in Croatia where it operates 70 filling stations while Crobenz has 14 stations.

"Our goal is to expand in the region of Southeastern Europe," Salkic added.

Petrol, which has a market capitalisation of about 680 million euros ($1.03 billion), operates some 430 filling stations in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo and Montenegro.

Shares of Petrol firmed 0.3 percent to 325.99 euros on Wednesday, while Slovenia's SBI index lost 0.36 percent. ($1=.6625 Euro) (Reporting by Marja Novak; Edited by Jon Loades-Carter) ((marja.novak@reuters.com; 386-1-47-00-545; Reuters Messaging: marja.novak.reuters.com@reuters.net))