"Romania plants for tomorrow": 550,000 trees planted in 2020

 

OMV Petrom, the largest energy company in Southeastern Europe, continued its forestation actions in 2020, as part of the “Romania plants for tomorrow” campaign - the largest private forestation initiative in Romania. The initiative is carried out with the support of the Ministry of the Environment, Waters and Forests and six non-governmental organizations, recognized for their contributions to environmental protection: Act for Tomorrow, Mai mult verde, Plantăm fapte bune în România, Pădurea copiilor, Viitor Plus and Văcăreşti Natural Park Association. The Ministry of the Environment, Waters and Forests provided specialists in planting and local expertise throughout the entire planting campaign. 
 

Christina Verchere, OMV Petrom CEO: "Despite the difficult context in 2020, we followed through on our commitment and planted 550,000 trees, observing all the sanitary and distancing rules. Forestation plays an important role in the absorption and storage of carbon dioxide, and we want to contribute to the effort of having a cleaner environment. We believe such projects can make a difference in creating a better life and we will be continuing our planting campaign in the next years." 
 

The “Romania plants for tomorrow” campaign aims to plant about 1,500,000 trees on 300 ha, by the end of 2023. To support this campaign, OMV Petrom has allocated EUR 4.6 million. 
 

The forestation actions took place in spring and autumn. In total, this year, we planted trees  on an area of 124 hectares, in 32 localities in 15 counties.

 

In this coronavirus pandemic context, all the sanitary and physical distancing measures were observed during this year's planting actions. The volunteers were divided into teams and received sanitary protection equipment, a good part of the plantings being performed mechanically.

 

The planting campaign aims to help communities affected by landslides, planting being a real solution to prevent water accumulation, floods and soil desertification. 

 

At the same time, tree planting contributes to the capture of carbon dioxide - the forests being considered among the most important carbon dioxide deposits. It is estimated that each tree planted neutralizes an average of 5.5 kg of carbon dioxide per year.

 

Since 2008, OMV Petrom has planted over 1,200,000 trees on an area of 140 hectares, becoming one of the largest private promoters of planting actions. The campaigns carried out over time benefited from the support of the employees and of over 3,000 volunteers who chose to bring their civic contribution to protecting and growing the forests in Romania. 

 

All those who want to contribute to nature protection can register as volunteers on the platform www.taraluiandrei.ro

 

This campaign contributes to the support of three objectives of the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Agenda: (13) Climate Action, (15) Terrestrial Life and (17) Partnerships for Achieving the Goals.  

 

 

OMV Petrom is the largest integrated energy company in South-Eastern Europe, with an annual Group hydrocarbon production of 55.4 million boe in 2019. 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 neighbouring countries through 798 filling stations, at the end of September 2020, under two brands – OMV and Petrom. 

 

OMV Aktiengesellschaft, one of the largest listed industrial companies in Austria, holds a 51.011% stake in OMV Petrom. The Romanian State, through the Ministry of Economy, Energy and Business Environment, holds 20.639% of OMV Petrom shares, Fondul Proprietatea holds 6.997%, and 21.353% 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 EUR 30.4 billion, in taxes and dividends paid between 2005 and 2019.

 

Since 2007, OMV Petrom has included corporate responsibility principles into its business strategy. Between 2007-2019, the company has allocated approximately EUR 66 million to develop communities in Romania, focusing on environmental protection, education, health and local development.