Corporate Security

An unstable geopolitical environment in 2021 combined with complex and enduring regional conflicts resulted in Corporate Security’s emphasis remaining on OMV’s assets located in the Middle East and North Africa. In addition to the challenges of operating securely in Yemen, Tunisia, and Libya, the enduring threat of terrorist attacks in Europe and elsewhere has not diminished. Political extremism, organized crime, and the increasing convergence of cyber risks with physical threats ensured the Corporate Security department’s continued focus on a robust yet flexible security strategy to enable OMV to continue operating in dynamic environments with converging asymmetric threats.

Specific Policies and Commitments

Our internal Security Management Standard lays out a comprehensive range of security regulations, plans, procedures, measures, and systems. The document utilizes IOGP best practice guidelines along with other industry best practice (ASIS and UK Security Institute) to enable OMV to more effectively detect, deter, protect, prevent, record, and investigate threats.

Management and Due Diligence Processes

OMV has a unique, agile, and proven security management system that is regularly reviewed, changed, or enhanced as the situation requires.

Risk Assessments

The philosophy of collecting security information and assessing it as a preventive security instrument remains a fundamental principle of the Corporate Security strategy. This concept affords us with the ability to anticipate or instantly respond to a broad spectrum of geopolitical events, regional conflicts, and isolated incidents. Effective interaction with government and local security agencies further augments this approach with the reliable corroboration of facts and truth on the ground.

OMV’s unique security risk assessment platform continues to provide real-time oversight of OMV’s asset risk exposure levels and can be quickly readjusted in response to geopolitical or security events.

Human Rights and Community Engagement

OMV’s human rights policies and actions remain crucial in terms of enhancing a secure and consensual operating environment. We provide human rights training to local security employees and third-party contractors. Effective community engagement at a local level remains a powerful security mitigation measure in regions experiencing conflict or instability. In high-risk countries, OMV’s local security and community engagement strategies are tightly integrated, promoting effective policies, mutual respect, and transparency with all local stakeholders. In turn, they contributed directly to OMV’s stable and secure operating environment in 2021. This cooperation encourages a precautionary approach in early detection and resolution of local grievances.

2021 Activities

Despite some dynamic COVID‑19 challenges and travel restrictions in 2021, the Corporate Security department continued to deliver operational support to OMV ventures. In high-risk countries, OMV also utilized dedicated Country Security Managers and Asset Protection Experts on site to enhance security via additional, and where appropriate, local expertise.

Outlook

The Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (VPSHR) provide guidance on risk assessment, public safety and security, human rights abuses, and the interaction between companies and private and public security. OMV is committed to upholding human rights in all of its activities. To this end, OMV aims to join the Voluntary Principles Initiative. OMV Corporate Security will undertake a VPSHR prequalification review to determine the feasibility of attaining full VPSHR accreditation in the coming years.