Austrian group OMV brings former BP executive to manage its Romanian subsidiary

Romanian oil and gas group OMV Petrom, the biggest subsidiary of Austrian group OMV, will change its CEO after 12 years. OMV Petrom’s Supervisory Board appointed 46-year old British executive Christina Verchere as the new President of the Executive Board and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). “Christina Verchere is an exceptional leader in the oil and gas industry, with a remarkable breadth of understanding of the business. We are delighted that she joins OMV Group as the CEO of our most important subsidiary, OMV Petrom. Christina Verchere’s selection came after a comprehensive assessment of internal and external candidates led by the Supervisory Board,” said Rainer Seele, President of the Supervisory Board of OMV Petrom and CEO of OMV Group. Verchere will replace Romanian Mariana Gheorghe, who has led the group in the last 12 years. Mariana Gheorghe who still had over a year of her mandate ahead, will step down by May 20, at the latest. “After twelve tremendously intense years with OMV Petrom I consider it is the right time to leave and for Christina Verchere and a new generation of leaders to continue to build a great company. I am honored to have been involved in the transformation of OMV Petrom and developing its growth potential,” Mariana Gheorghe said. “In the past decade, OMV Petrom has transformed into an international competitive and highly profitable company under the leadership of Mariana Gheorghe. We would like to express our gratitude for Mariana Gheorghe’s leadership and strong performance dedicated to OMV Petrom during the past 12 years,” OMV CEO Reiner Seele added. Christina Verchere, the designated OMV Peterom CEO, has left Jakarta, where she was the Regional President of the Asia Pacific region for British oil group BP, to come to Bucharest and take the helm of Romania’s biggest oil and gas group. “OMV Petrom is an outstanding company with huge potential, broad expertise and first class staff. I am delighted to take on this responsibility and excited about moving to Bucharest,” she said. She has been working for BP group for over 20 years, holding numerous leadership positions in the UK, the US as well as in Canada. OMV Petrom is the largest integrated oil and gas group in Southeastern Europe, with an annual oil and gas production of approximately 64 million boe in 2016. The group has a refining capacity of 4.5 million tons per year and operates an 860 MW high efficiency power plant. The group is present on the oil products retail markets in Romania and neighboring countries through 787 filling stations, as of end September 2017, under two brands – Petrom and OMV. OMV Petrom is also involved in the biggest offshore gas project in Romania, in the Black Sea’s Neptun block, together with U.S group ExxonMobil. OMV, one of Austria's largest listed industrial companies, holds a 51.01% stake in OMV Petrom. The Romanian state, via the Ministry of Energy, holds 20.64% of OMV Petrom shares, Fondul Proprietatea holds 10%, and 18.35% is free float on the Bucharest Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange. OMV Petrom is the most valuable Romanian company listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, with a market capitalization of EUR 3.69 billion, as of January 9, 2018.