Alfred Stern

He joined OMV in 2014 and previously led the chemicals and materials segment, including oversight of Borealis, OMV's polyolefins subsidiary. His appointment signaled the board's commitment to repositioning OMV away from pure upstream oil and gas toward higher-value, lower-carbon chemicals and materials. Stern's "Strategy 2030" envisions a fundamental transformation: reducing the contribution of oil and gas production to OMV's earnings while growing the chemicals segment (primarily through Borealis) into the company's largest business. The plan includes significant investment in mechanical and chemical recycling of plastics, sustainable aviation fuels, and geothermal energy. Stern aims to make OMV a leader in the circular economy for plastics — transforming waste plastics back into virgin-quality feedstock. OMV had a long-term gas supply contract with Gazprom and significant upstream operations in Russia, which became stranded assets. Managing the unwinding of Russian dependencies while securing alternative gas supplies for Austria and Central Europe has consumed enormous management bandwidth. Stern's decisions on the pace of energy transition investment, Borealis expansion, Russian asset resolution, and refinery configuration for sustainable fuels are the primary drivers of OMV's stock performance.