Community development investments

Community Consultation and Social Impact Assessments

Our community relations and development management strategy are based on centralized goals and objectives that will be carried out by staff members who are accountable locally using local resources. We do a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) before beginning a business initiative in the communities, which includes prior free and informed consultation with and consent from local stakeholders. To promote synergies and efficiency, the SIA is occasionally incorporated into the Environmental Impact Assessment (ESIA). Through the commissioning, operational, and decommissioning or abandonment phases of the project life cycle, the SIA seeks to guarantee that the opinions of the local community are taken into account and addressed.

Any possible impact on human rights is fully addressed, according to our internal regulation for conducting SIAs. We perform baseline studies, community needs assessments, stakeholder analyses, and a study of social risks for each business project. Whenever it is needed, SIAs are conducted in a participatory manner by directly consulting with potentially affected communities. Our standards require that the outcomes of the SIA are communicated to affected stakeholders. Site-specific strategies for community relations and development, stakeholder engagement plans as well as Community Grievance Mechanisms are further employed.

We adhere to national laws, financial obligations, and international norms to provide a transparent community connection process. We have designed a distinct set of internal standards, procedures, and directives for Community Relations and Community Development, Stakeholder Engagement, E&P Process of Community Engagement, Sponsorship Strategy, and Grievance Mechanism.

We engage in frequent communications with a range of stakeholders, people from our communities that we are meet in daily business and whom we consider key dialogue partners in achieving goals. The local needs identified through the SIA process and feedback received after consultation sessions become benchmarks for prioritizing investments.

The community relations team from all Business Divisions creates targeted community involvement plans, social impact assessments, and management plans as well as exit strategies to guarantee that any potential social repercussions are addressed in the event of decommissioning or exit.

The OMV Petrom Sustainability corporate level function governs and steers the implementation of the community relations and development plans in the company, receives regular reporting and feedback from stakeholders, monitors and ensures that the Group guidelines, policies, and regulations are correctly implemented. The framework for managing community interactions is based on centrally controlled policies, roles, and objectives, as well as locally sourced resources. To track and direct the local implementation of our site-specific community relations and development strategies and plans, we hold organized, frequent alignment sessions with our community development professionals. For each Business Division, community relations and development management initiatives are created in accordance with its unique business strategy.

One best practice example for community consultation is the ‘Memorandum of understanding’, which we signed with Prahova County Council, County School Inspectorate, County Emergency Situation Department to properly identify relevant CRCD projects in partnership with local stakeholders.

We drive the largest private afforestation program, and we created an action network around it. We have established a partnership agreement with the Minister of Forests, Waters and Environment and 6 national environmental NGOs to maintain ecological balance. In their turn, each NGO enlarges the partnership with county authorities for local afforestation and engages people from communities for volunteering.

Needs Assessments and prioritization

In our evaluation, we give priority to initiatives that have the potential to improve beneficiaries’ lives over the long term and contribute to society as a whole. Key OMV Petrom focus areas for our community and social investments include health, education, and environmental protection. The SDGs, community needs highlighted through SIAs, and our ongoing community consultation process are all connected with community and social investments. Projects in partnership with local stakeholders to ensure a maximum social return on our investment remain our targeted priority every year. Our yearly planning includes a final selection of projects and budget allocation, and the project plans are designed based on consultation with major stakeholders in our local communities.