The supervisory board of Austrian oil and gas company OMV AG (OMV.VI)
decided at a meeting Thursday to confirm the position of Chief Executive
Wolfgang Ruttenstorfer, a step made necessary after he was charged with insider
trading last week, the company said.
"The Supervisory Board holds the view that there are no grounds at present
for a change in the chief executive's position," OMV, Central Europe's
largest producer, refiner and marketer of oil and gas products, said in a
statement.
The announcement helped soothe market insecurity and supported OMV's share
price Thursday. At 1405 GMT, OMV's shares traded up 2.8%, or EUR0.73, at
EUR27.1, in an overall Vienna ATX 20 index, which traded up 0.1%.
Ruttenstorfer was charged last week by the Vienna state prosecutor in a case
that relates to the company's sale of a large stake in Hungarian company MOL
Nyrt. (MOL.BU) in 2009.
Ruttenstorfer bought OMV shares worth EUR620,444 one week before the company
announced it had reached an agreement to sell its 21.2% stake in Hungarian peer
MOL for EUR1.4 billion, or double the market price. The MOL deal led to OMV's
shares rising more than 3%.
OMV's supervisory board said in the statement it "will continue to closely
monitor the proceedings and collect further information if necessary," but
most likely the case won't be concluded until long after Ruttenstorfer has left
OMV. 60-year old Ruttenstorfer, who has headed OMV since 2002, will retire when
his contract expires with the end of March, 2011.
Thomas Vecsey, spokesman of the state prosecutor told Dow Jones Newswires
Thurday the chances of a verdict before end-March are next to none, and a
potential subsequent appeal would extend the final conclusion even further.
Ruttenstorfer himself has vehemently maintained his innocence since the
allegations first surfaced in 2009, saying that he didn't, and also couldn't,
profit from the transaction in any way, since the shares he purchased were part
of a management bonus program and had to be held for three years.
"I find it (the charges) very difficult to comprehend, of course, since
all my transactions involving OMV shares have been done in a correct and
transparent way," Ruttenstorfer told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview
last week.
"It won't influence my work or hinder me in doing my job in any way, and I
of course intend to continue to full fill my mandate until it expires next
year," Ruttenstorfer said.
If convicted, Ruttenstorfer could face up to three years in jail. The date of
the first day in court has not yet been determined.
OMV, the former state oil company of Austria, is now owned to 31.5% by the
state, and 20% by Abu Dhabi investment fund IPIC, while the remaining 48.5% is
in freefloat.