The Austrian oil, gas, and chemical group OMV has fired one of its executives on suspicion of spying for Russia.
On Friday, the Austrian magazine Profil published an investigation into one of OMV’s top managers, who drew the attention of Austrian counterintelligence due to his meetings with an employee from the Russian embassy.
OMV’s top manager met with Russian embassy employee – media
The manager had worked for OMV for a long time and was most recently involved in a deal to merge two subsidiaries worth 1 billion euros in Abu Dhabi.
The executive is accused of meeting with a Russian embassy diplomat in Vienna who is suspected by Austria’s security services of being affiliated with the FSB (Russia’s domestic intelligence) and espionage.
According to Profil, the man had information about both companies and reported them to a Russian diplomat during meetings in Vienna. It is not reported whether the man acted alone or how long his espionage activities lasted.
Numerous internal documents were seized during a search of the OMV employee’s home, and a criminal case has been opened against him.
Austrian Foreign Ministry Summoned Russia’s Chargé d’Affaires
The Austrian Foreign Ministry said in a statement to the APA agency that it had summoned Russia’s chargé d’affaires ad interim following the revelations.
Austrian intelligence had reportedly monitored the executive for months. The Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian chargé d’affaires and requested a waiver of immunity for the diplomat, or else declared him persona non grata. Searches were carried out at the executive’s residence, and internal documents were reportedly seized.
“The Russian side was asked to waive the diplomatic immunity of the diplomat involved in the investigation,” the Austrian Foreign Ministry stated.
When asked by Reuters, OMV said it was fully cooperating with Austrian authorities and declined to comment further “for data protection reasons.”
OMV Energy Company
OMV is the largest oil company in Central Europe, headquartered in Vienna. It was one of the first in the West to sign a gas supply agreement with the USSR and has now terminated it early.
The executive had been seconded to ADNOC in the UAE—a key shareholder in OMV—and the company is involved in a large polyolefin business merger (Borealis-Borouge). The executive allegedly had knowledge of both OMV and ADNOC sensitive data.
The media has previously reported that Western countries are concerned about the activity of Russian spies in Austria, where they formally do not violate anything unless they act directly against Austria.
Significance of the Case
OMV is a major energy player in Central Europe. Revealing espionage ties in its management points to how Russia seeks to infiltrate sensitive sectors such as energy and materials (chemicals, plastics), which have both economic and geopolitical importance.
Hybrid threat escalation: This espionage case is an example of hybrid warfare methods—not just cyber or kinetic force, but intelligence, corporate infiltration, and diplomatic misuse.
It also raises alarms about how Russian intelligence operates inside EU member states, even in companies with foreign partners (like ADNOC). Diplomatic cover and requests for immunity waivers demonstrate the treatment of this as a national security issue.
Legal & reputational risks: For OMV, there is potential damage to trust—between its partners, governments, and shareholders. For Austria, careful handling will be required regarding issues with diplomatic relations with Russia, particularly the summoning of the diplomat.
What to expect next?
Now, we need to see whether the Austrian authorities press full charges against the executive and the diplomat. It’s also intriguing to follow up on how OMV and ADNOC respond in terms of internal checks, potential data leak investigations, and reinforcing security protocols.
Another open question is whether other EU energy or chemical firms face similar exposures—this may indicate a broader Russian intelligence strategy in Western industrial sectors.
Media will also monitor how Austria uses diplomatic tools (persona non grata, revoking immunity) and whether this incident prompts EU-wide policy on spy risk in energy firms.
