The board of directors of Hungarian oil and gas group MOL has approved the company’s new long-term strategy in which it aims to become a leading chemical player in central and eastern Europe. Hungary’s second-largest listed company by market value, MOL plans to spend around $1.5 billion every five years until 2030 on projects to expand its petrochemicals and chemicals capacity in the region, including entering new product groups.

The company said it believes that investing further in its petrochemical and chemical value chains is a logical step in its strategy to diversify away from fuels. Its investments will be built upon existing feedstocks within its refineries, perpetuating the current strategy of deepening downstream integration while also moving towards semi-commodity and specialty products. No further details on the actual products or specialty chemicals to be manufactured were disclosed.

As it moves away from fuels production, MOL is targeting a gradual increase of the share of petrochemicals and chemicals from its refineries to above 50% by 2030, from below 30% at present.

Under the new strategy, the Hungarian group also envisions gradually investing in new businesses which would generate about 10% of its EBITDA by 2030. These investments, it said, should be cash flow positive by 2030.