OMV announces Alfred Stern as its new CEO
The Supervisory Board of OMV Aktiengesellschaft has appointed Alfred Stern, 56, as the new chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of OMV, a multinational integrated oil, gas and petrochemical company headquartered in Vienna, Austria. Stern will assume the position effective September 1, 2021 for a three-year period, with an extension option for a further two years subject to mutual consent.
Stern is currently OMV Executive Board member for Chemicals & Materials. The current chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of OMV Rainer Seele will resign from his position in the Executive Board by mutual agreement on August 31, 2021.
“OMV stands on the cusp of a major transformation in the direction of chemicals and a circular economy. A transformation in which a large portfolio will need to be managed across a far-reaching value chain — from the wellhead to the refinery and filling station to high-end chemicals & materials and recycling. I am happy that, in this decisive phase for the company, we have managed to bring on board Alfred Stern as CEO. His specialist expertise as well as his international management and CEO experience in the chemical industry make him the ideal candidate to lead this transformation,” said Mark Garrett, chairman of the Supervisory Board of OMV.
He added: “In recent years, Alfred Stern and his team have not only secured an excellent market position for the Borealis polyolefin business, but also overseen the company’s evolution towards a circular economy.”
“My special thanks must go to Rainer Seele for his achievements in reshaping the company. Together with his Executive Board team, he has decisively realigned the OMV portfolio while significantly increasing profitability and thereby laying the best foundations for the transformation currently underway. The Borealis acquisition also meant that he took the first major, trailblazing step in this transformation process.”
“The energy transition will lead to changes in the backdrop of the various markets and sectors, but they will be different and come at different speeds. We will actively drive the decarbonization of our business, and we will be proactive in utilizing the respective changes across the entire product portfolio including circular economy in order to successfully continue our profitable and sustainable growth,” said Stern.
Stern, who is Austrian, was CEO of Borealis AG from 2018-2021. Prior to this position, he was executive vice president, Polyolefins and Innovation & Technology from 2012-2018 and senior vice president, Innovation & Technology, from 2008-2012. Prior to joining Borealis, he held several leadership positions at E.I. DuPont de Nemours International in Switzerland, Germany and the United States.
Stern obtained his Master’s Degree in Material Science and PhD in Polymer Engineering from the University of Leoben.
