Romanian oil company Petrom announced Wednesday it would invest 35 million euro for the modernization of its IT infrastructure this year. Operations at its headquarters in Bucharest and Ploiesti are a priority, to be followed by the its Arpechim and Petrobrazi refineries.

"Our main challenge is to create an IT infrastructure to support the new financial and business processes in order to comply with the demands of the capital market. The information technology is one of the most important factors for bringing the company in line with Western standards", Petrom financial manager Reinhard Pichler said.

Some 3000 desks received the newest PCs so far, with Internet, e-mail, printers and voIP utilities aimed at improving the operational efficiency and reducing costs.