OMV Petrom taps Christina Verchere, BP Asia president, to lead company

OMV Petrom S.A., the largest oil and gas group in Southeastern Europe, with activities in the upstream and downstream oil and gas segments, has appointed Christina Verchere, 46, as the new president of the Executive Board and chief executive officer (CEO) of OMV Petrom. She will assume the position depending on her availability, at the latest with effect from May 21, 2018.

In line with OMV Petrom’s articles of association, the appointment has been made for the remaining term of the mandate granted to Mariana Gheorghe, until April 16, 2019.

After her studies in Economics at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, Verchere started her career in 1993 and has spent more than 20 years with BP, where she held numerous leadership positions in the UK, the U.S. and Canada. Since 2014, she has been the regional president of the Asia Pacific region, based in Jakarta, Indonesia.

“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 S.A.. Christina Verchere’s selection came after a comprehensive assessment of internal and external candidates led by the Supervisory Board. 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,” said Rainer Seele, president of the Supervisory Board of OMV Petrom S.A. and CEO of Austria’s OMV 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,” Verchere said.

OMV Petrom is present in the distribution market for oil products in Romania, the Republic of Moldova, Bulgaria and Serbia through a network of approximately 780 filling stations, operated under two brands, Petrom and OMV.

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