Image: Reuters
The current boss Mark Garrett announced that he did not want to extend his mandate, said both the state holding company and OMV majority owner (31.5 percent) ÖBAG and OMV itself on Friday. ÖBAG intends to propose Lutz Feldmann as his successor at the Annual General Meeting on May 31.
Garrett is leaving “due to new professional challenges and limited time resources,” according to the OMV broadcast. According to ÖBAG, the proposed successor, Feldmann, is a “proven energy expert”. He is currently Chairman of the Supervisory Board at German energy supplier EnBW (Energie Baden-Württemberg), among others, and previously held management positions at E.ON, BP (formerly British Petroleum) and Aral.
There had already been speculation about Garrett’s departure. It was rumored that the Austrian owner lacked the trust of the Austrian owner because he had not done enough to ensure the country’s gas supply security. Now an alleged internal letter is circulating, explaining Garrett’s departure with a new job at a private equity firm in New York.
Garrett, who had previously been CEO of OMV subsidiary Borealis, became chairman of the OMV supervisory board in 2020. It was said at the time that he was to strengthen the petrochemical expertise in the OMV supervisory body.
24.9 percent of the OMV shares are held by MPPH (Mubadala Petroleum and Petrochemicals Holding Company LLC from Abu Dhabi), 43.1 percent are in free float.
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