Economic Data

Only fines above EUR 10,000 and paid in 2023 are reported as significant. For instances of non-compliance that had a non-monetary penalty, no threshold for significance has been set and all are reported.

Two incidents at OMV Petrom Marketing SRL. In the first case, the National Authority for Consumer Protection, București County, deemed that OMV Petrom Marketing SRL failed to comply with measures in respect of consumer protection regarding the technical performance of the MaxxMotion 100 plus type fuel. For the second incidence of non-compliance at OMV Petrom Marketing SRL, the fines issued by the local police for different filling stations were not significant. However, they were recurring and non-monetary sanctions were also imposed. The fine paid by OMV Petrom Marketing SRL for operating with an expired permit totaled EUR 2,242.

Two out of the three incidents at OMV Petrom S.A. In both cases, the National Environmental Guard issued the fines due to OMV Petrom S.A. breaching provisions regarding different environmental regualtions. In the first case, a fine of EUR 10,000 was paid because of soil pollution occurring from the failure of a salt water transport pipeline functioning effectively in the Argeș District. In the second case, a fine of EUR 15,000 was paid because of gas and dust emissions affecting the air quality at the Petrobrazi refinery, in the Prahova District. In 2023, OMV Petrom began a general turnaround at the Petrobrazi refinery, which also included maintenance work and more than 20 modernization projects.

The third case is related to Borealis Kallo NV for violating the controlling rights of a public officer supervising environmental policy law. The case was appealed but lost and a total fine of EUR 16,422.11 was issued. Borealis Kallo NV is still to receive a payment request that will give the required information in order to proceed with the payment of this fine.

Four out of the five incidents were associated with various occurrences of non-compliance at OMV Petrom S.A. and OMV Petrom Marketing SRL. Significant fines were issued for two cases against OMV Petrom S.A. for breaching legal provisions on consumer protection and for failure to comply with the measures imposed by ANRE within the set deadline. The fines issued for the remaining two cases against OMV Petrom Marketing SRL were minor (total: EUR 2,600), however, the authority ordered the suspension of the activity at the gas station Târgu Bujor, for a month, and for 16 gas stations the authority ordered the loss of validity of the prevention against fires permit.

Included in this figure is a critical case in Romania, where in 2016, a child drowned in a pit filled with oil from an extraction well, which was not fenced. In December 2022, related to this, OMV Petrom S.A. was found guilty of manslaughter by the Găeşti District Court and was ordered to pay a criminal fine amounting to RON 28,000 (approx. EUR 5,700). On the civil side, the court assessed the degree of fault of OMV Petrom S.A. at 50%, and the company was obliged to pay moral damages of EUR 135,000 to the victim’s family and material damages and other expenses in the total amount of RON 22,000 (approx. EUR 4,500). In 2023, OMV Petrom S.A. was found guilty and convicted for committing the crime of involuntary manslaughter. A total fine of EUR 100,000 was imposed by the Ploiești Court of Appeal, Prahova District, of which EUR 40,000 was paid to the civil parties and EUR 3,000 was paid as judicial expenses. Since the case occurred in 2016, OMV Petrom S.A. has ramped up its efforts to identify and secure the areas surrounding the wells and to apply relevant precautionary measures, e.g., fencing the areas around the well, installing grills above the well, and placing clear warning signs.