VIENNA (AFP)--Austrian financial authorities said Wednesday they
were investigating the head of oil and gas giant OMV AG (OMV.VI) on
suspicion of allegedly manipulating the company's share price.
"We have opened a preliminary investigation against (Wolfgang)
Ruttenstorfer," a spokesman for the Financial Market Authority, or
FMA, Klaus Grubelnik, told AFP.
The spokesman confirmed a report in business daily
Wirtschaftsblatt, which said Ruttenstorfer was under investigation
on suspicion he may have manipulated OMV's share price when the
company was seeking to sell its stake in Hungarian rival MOL Nyrt.
(MOL.BU) earlier this year.
According to Wirtschaftsblatt, Ruttenstorfer bought EUR620,444
of OMV shares on March 23.
In an interview with the weekly magazine Profil the same day,
the CEO had insisted OMV intended to hold on to its 21.2% stake in
MOL "for the rest of the year," even though it had failed in its
bid to fully acquire the Hungarian group.
Subsequently on March 30, OMV sold its stake in MOL to Russian
group Surgutneftegas for EUR1.4 billion. The announcement sent the
Austrian company's share price up 3.3% to EUR25.10 on a day when
the Vienna stock exchange was showing a loss of 4.2%. The value of
Ruttenstorfer's shares increased by nearly EUR45,000.
OMV said it would cooperate fully with the FMA with regard to
the enquiry into the sale of its stake in MOL to
Surgutneftegas.
"As a publicly listed company, we abide by all laws, rules and
international standards of good corporate governance," it said in a
statement.
With regard to Ruttenstorfer's share purchase on March 23, OMV
said: "The legal conditions and timeframes under which managers can
buy or sell shares - so-called directors' dealings - are very
clearly defined. All of these rules and conditions were and still
are being met."
The Austrian giant was forced to abandon its plans to take over
MOL in face of opposition from the Hungarian government and
objections on the part of the European Union.
Ruttenstorfer has been CEO since 2002 and is scheduled to step
down on March 31, 2011. On the stock exchange Wednesday, OMV shares
were showing a gain of 0.21% at EUR24.12.