Second time this year OMV Serbia employees planted one hectare of forests

• OMV employees in Serbia planted trees on an area of 1 ha for a second time this year
• Seedlings of black pine are planted near Nova Varos in cooperation with Serbia Forests (PE Srbijašume)
• OMV Serbia has a long-term commitment to and takes responsibility for environmental protection

For the second time this year, employee volunteers of OMV Serbia, in cooperation with Serbia Forests (PE Srbijašume), participated in afforestation of one hectare area in Serbia. This time, they planted 2000 black pine seedlings close to the Draglica village, located on the slopes of Zlatibor Mountain, near Nova Varos.

Afforestation has a great potential to address climate change. Restoring and establishing forests is an effective nature-based climate solution that can deliver large-scale emissions reductions by capturing and storing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. For OMV this afforestation activity supplements carbon reduction targets set for the company. With the afforestation of areas in southwestern Serbia, OMV reaffirmed its strategic commitment to contributing to the fight against climate change, and supporting Serbia’s national long-term goal to achieve the desired 41.4% afforestation of Serbia.

Serbia, as a Southeast European country, is one of the most vulnerable areas affected by global climate change, primarily due to an increase in mean annual air temperature and an uneven amount of precipitation. According to official data, over the last ten years, the process of vegetation drying has been steadily increasing, while the occurrence of natural disasters cause enormous damage to the forests throughout Serbia. This activity symbolically rehabilitated one forest to prior of 2014, when on one occasion the wind destroyed about 22,000 cubic meters of woodlands in just 15 minutes.

“OMV Serbia reaffirms its long-term commitment to and responsibility for environment protection. Our modest contribution to the afforestation and conservation of Serbia's forest potential is supplemented by our carbon reduction targets across our business. We, in our company, take these issues seriously, which is confirmed by the personal engagement and very high turnout of our employee volunteers in both afforestation activities. With these efforts, we hope to find ourselves in a position to help address climate change." says OMV Serbia General Manager Narcis Popescu on this occasion.

Black pine (Lat. Pinus nigra) is a species of tall conifers that can grow up to 40m in height, depending on environmental conditions. It is one of the most widespread pine species growing in Serbia. It is extremely significant in landscape design because of its resistance to almost all habitat conditions. Black pine forests in Serbia cover an area of 61,506 ha, or 2.6% of the country’s territory.

The artificially raised black pine forest covers an area of 1ha, and has a potential to capture and store about 180 tonnes of carbon dioxide over its lifetime. Forests are also known to play an important role in preventing torrents, soil erosion and are the most effective and cheapest filter that naturally purifies water to drinking quality. This OMV Serbia employee volunteering activity in afforestation contributes to the achievement of United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13 “Climate Action”.

Background information
OMV Serbia d.o.o.
OMV entered the Serbian market in 2001. Headquartered in Belgrade, OMV Serbia currently has 61 filling stations and holds around 10% market share in Serbia. 
The OMV stations are multifunctional service centres - filling stations for people and vehicles. OMV customers are provided with fuels, lubricants and car wash services; in addition 56 VIVA shops offer snacks, refreshments and a broad range of additional services. OMV Serbia directly employs 46 people and has created more than 800 jobs via its network of filling stations. 

OMV Aktiengesellschaft
OMV produces and markets oil and gas, innovative energy and high-end petrochemical solutions – in a responsible way. With Group sales of EUR 23 bn and a workforce of more than 20,000 employees in 2018, OMV Aktiengesellschaft is one of Austria’s largest listed industrial companies. In Upstream, OMV has a strong base in Romania and Austria as part of the Central and Eastern Europe core region as well as a balanced international portfolio, with Russia, North Sea, Middle East and Africa as well as Asia-Pacific as further core regions. 2018 daily production stood at approximately 427,000 boe/d. In Downstream, OMV operates three refineries with a total annual processing capacity of 17.8 mn tons and more than 2,000 filling stations in ten countries. OMV runs gas storage facilities in Austria and Germany; its subsidiary Gas Connect Austria GmbH operates a gas pipeline network in Austria. In 2018, gas sales volumes amounted to around 114 TWh. Sustainability is an integral part of the corporate strategy. OMV is set to invest EUR 500 mn in innovative energy solutions by 2025.

For further information, please contact: 

Action Global Communications
Press:     Srdjan Crnogorac  
Tel: +381 11 675 01 16
 E-mail: srdjan.c@actionprgroup.com