OMV Petrom, the largest integrated energy producer in Southeastern Europe, is today an anchor of economic stability for Romania, Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) President Radu Hanga said on Thursday.
"Twenty-five years ago, on September 3, 2001, Petrom, at the time Romania's largest company, listed its shares on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. Today, the company is the largest integrated energy producer in Southeastern Europe and represents an anchor of economic stability for our entire country," Hanga said at an event marking 25 years since Petrom's listing, agerpres reports.
He said the development of OMV Petrom had gone hand in hand with the expansion of Romania's capital market.
In 2001, the total market capitalisation of the BVB's main market stood at 3.8 billion lei, while average daily equity turnover was around 1.5 million lei and the total value traded on the main market was 381 million lei.
Hanga said average daily equity turnover had reached 122 million lei this year, while the total value traded was around 20 billion lei.
The number of transactions has also increased sharply, from 357,000 in 2001 to more than 1.6 million so far this year.
"We will probably end this year at around 2.5 million transactions, which means we will have a new all-time high on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. The previous record was in 2024, with 1.9 million transactions," Hanga said.
Petrom's market capitalisation has meanwhile increased from 1.6 billion lei in 2002 to around 75 billion lei today.
Hanga said almost half a million Romanians directly own OMV Petrom shares. Including pension funds, through which 8.5 million Romanians save for retirement, around half of Romania's population is in some way connected to the company as shareholders, he said.
"This means a financial connection, and it means that when OMV Petrom does well, Romania does well too, which literally means a positive impact on the balance sheets of 8.59 million Romanians," Hanga said.
He added that OMV Petrom has contributed 48 billion euros in taxes and dividends to the Romanian state budget since its privatisation in 2005.
The Romanian state, through the Energy Ministry, owns almost 21% of OMV Petrom, while pension funds, retail investors and other institutional investors are among its other shareholders.
Hanga also highlighted the Neptun Deep offshore gas project, being developed by OMV Petrom in partnership with Romgaz and expected to deliver its first production in 2027.
He said the project would position Romania as the European Union's largest natural gas producer and was expected to contribute 20 billion euros to the state budget, while generating direct emissions eight times lower than the industry average.
BVB and OMV Petrom organised Thursday's event to mark 25 years since shares in the integrated energy producer began trading on Romania's capital market.
OMV Petrom is the largest integrated energy producer in Southeastern Europe and the second-largest company on the Bucharest Stock Exchange by market capitalisation. The group operates around 780 filling stations in Romania and neighbouring countries under the OMV and Petrom brands.
