he then attracted the interest of petrolul ploieşti in divizia a, the best team from the prahova county, three-time champions of romania. at petrolul ploieşti he established himself as an important striker in the romanian league, scoring 27 goals between 1999 and 2002. during his time at petrolul ploieşti he caught the eyes of romanian greats steaua bucureşti and dinamo bucuresti.