VIENNA (Reuters) -Austrian oil, gas and chemicals group OMV has fired an executive over allegations of spying for Russia and a Russian diplomat has been summoned to the Foreign Ministry in Vienna as a result of the affair, news magazine Profil reported.
Profil magazine said the OMV employee allegedly attracted attention through meetings with a Russian diplomat suspected by Western intelligence services of being an agent of Russia’s domestic intelligence service FSB.
The magazine said that Austria’s Directorate of State Security and Intelligence had been monitoring the OMV executive, who was not identified, for several months.
OMV told Reuters it had terminated the employee’s contract with immediate effect and the company was cooperating fully with the relevant authorities.
“For data protection reasons, we cannot comment on further details regarding individual employment relationships,” an OMV spokesman said.
The Austrian Foreign Ministry told Reuters it was aware of the allegations and the pending criminal proceedings against a Russian diplomat.
The chargé d’affaires of the Russian embassy in Vienna has been summoned to the Foreign Ministry, and asked to waive the diplomat’s immunity.
“Otherwise, he would have been considered persona non grata and would have to leave Austria,” the Ministry told Reuters.
The Russian Foreign Ministry could not be reached for comment.
According to the Profil report, the OMV employee had been temporarily seconded to Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) in the United Arab Emirates, which holds a 25% stake in OMV.
Adnoc and OMV are due to merge their polyolefin businesses Borouge and Borealis to create a chemicals powerhouse with a $60 billion enterprise value.
The magazine said the OMV employee had insights into both companies and briefed the Russian diplomat during meetings in Vienna.
Adnoc did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Alexandra Schwarz-Goerlich in Vienna, writing by John Revill. Editing by Jane Merriman)
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