OMV Petrom, via Petrom Filling Stations, facilitated “The road to online school" for over 2,500 pupils from 17 counties

• Pupils received tablets and internet access, within “The road to online school" campaign initiated by Petrom Filling Stations, with support from Mastercard and Narada
• OMV Petrom contributed 90.000 euros to the campaign

OMV Petrom, the largest energy company in Southeastern Europe, has successfully completed “The Road to Online School" campaign. Over 2,500 pupils from disadvantaged communities received tablets, interactive whiteboards and internet subscriptions to participate in school classes in the digital environment. The campaign was carried out with support from Petrom Filling Stations, Mastercard and Narada, an NGO whose mission is to support education. OMV Petrom contributed 90,000 euros to the campaign.

"We connected pupils who never had a smartphone or a tablet to the online school, we brought internet and technology to vulnerable communities, we connected pupils and teachers. I thank the partners and all those who donated using the application on the site”, said Radu Căprău, member of the Management Board of OMV Petrom, responsible for Downstream Oil.

The year 2020 meant the sudden and forced disconnection from education of over 250,000 children in Romania. The chronic absenteeism that naturally followed this situation deepened their social and financial obstacles, but also their chances for a better future, according to the Ministry of Education. Through the crowdfunding platform, Narada reached a number of 4354 pupils from all over the country with hardware technology solutions - mobile devices or internet access, 2590 of them being reconnected to education with the support of Petrom.

"At the end of such an extensive action as connecting children and teachers to education in the vulnerable communities of Romania, we took a step back to look at the results and it seemed absolutely extraordinary. Through Petrom's support we succeeded to serve the needs of a significant number of teachers, but also to identify other communities that needed support in offering children access to education. This was a gratifying moment, especially since not long ago, the whole Narada team embarked on an expedition to deliver the technology to the communities that received Petrom's support, and the reality is shocking in some of them", said Andra Munteanu, co-founder of Narada.

"I am happy that we have an interactive whiteboard and that children have tablets because this way the classes will become much more interactive, the children will be much more stimulated to work and learn, to participate in school", said the teacher of 29 of children in the first grade of a beneficiary school.

According to public data, only 32% of Romanian pupils benefit, at home, from internet access or digital equipment needed to take part in online school.

About OMV Petrom

OMV Petrom is the largest integrated energy company in South-Eastern Europe, with an annual Group hydrocarbon production of 53.0 million boe in 2020. The Group has a refining capacity of 4.5 million tons annually and operates an 860 MW high efficiency power plant. The Group is present on the oil products retail market in Romania and neighboring countries through 793 filling stations, at the end of 2020, under two brands – OMV and Petrom.

OMV Aktiengesellschaft, one of the largest listed industrial companies in Austria, holds a 51% stake in OMV Petrom. The Romanian State, through the Ministry of Economy, Energy and Business Environment, holds 20.6% of OMV Petrom shares, Fondul Proprietatea holds 7%, and 21.4% is the free float on the Bucharest Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange.

OMV Petrom is the largest contributor to the state budget, with contributions of approximately 32 billion euro in taxes and dividends paid between 2005 and 2020.

Since 2007, OMV Petrom has included corporate responsibility principles into its business strategy. Between 2007 and 2020, the company has allocated approximately 72 million euro to develop communities in Romania, focusing on environmental protection, education, health and local development.

On July 29th, 2020, OMV Petrom announced its support for the recommendations issued by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) regarding risks and opportunities on climate change.