Prague, 13 February 2009 – On today’s meeting of the Supervisory Board of UNIPETROL, a.s. Mr. François Vleugels resigned from the position of Chairman of the Board and CEO of Unipetrol, effective immediately. Supervisory Board elected as a new Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of Unipetrol, a.s. Mr. Krzysztof Urbanowicz, effective immediately.
„I would like to thank Mr. François Vleugels for his achievements in Unipetrol in last three years. The Unipetrol group underwent great change under his management. We are convinced that the new global economic and financial situation requires a new approach and skillset and therefore we appointed Mr. Krzysztof Urbanowicz as a new CEO and Chairman of the Board. Mr. Urbanowicz was selected by an external executive search agency as the optimal manager with a lot of experience in restructuring and developing the companies. So his main task will be to lead Unipetrol through the turbulent times in order to capture the growth once the expected economic recovery arrives,“ said Mr. Jacek Krawiec, Chairman of Supervisory Board of Unipetrol and President of the Management Board and CEO of PKN Orlen.
PROFESSIONAL CAREER OF MR. KRZYSZTOF URBANOWICZ:
1993 – 1996 Shell Gas Poland
Country Commercial Manager
1997 – 1999 Shell International Petroleum Company, London
Senior management consultant, responsible for M&A projects, portfolio restructuring, new market entries and new brand development in countries like China, India, Brazil, Honkg Kong, Argentina and Chile.
1999 – 2001 Volvo Auto Poland
President and managing Director
2001 – 2003 PZU SA Warsaw (Leading Polish insurance company - 65% market share)
Managing director for Claims, managing 3,500 people, volume of claims 1 billion USD
2003 – 2007 URSA (Major European manufacturer of insulation materials), Managing director for Central and Eastern Europe, responsible for 11 countries including Czech Republic, and Slovakia.
2007– February 2009 - Private business consultancy
EDUCATION AND TRAINING:
1992 Warsaw University of Technology
Masters of Science in Civil Engineering
1993 MBA, Warsaw University of Technology
School of Business Conducted by London Business School, HEC School of Management from Paris, Norges Handelhoyskole from Bergen and Warsaw University of Technology.
1994 University of Warsaw
MA in Management and Marketing
1994 MBA, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
2002 INSEAD
Executive Management Programme
2004–5 St. Gallen University
Executive Management Programme
HOBBIES:
Climbing, air ballooning, sailing and scuba diving
UNIPETROL, a.s., controls companies, which are active in the petrochemical industry in the Czech Republic. In 2005, UNIPETROL became part of the PKN ORLEN Group, which is the largest processor of crude oil in Central Europe. The UNIPETROL Group is mainly focused on processing of crude oil, distribution of fuels and petrochemical production. In all of these areas, the UNIPETROL Group is an important player in the Czech Republic and also on the market in Central Europe. In the Czech Republic, the group is one of the most important companies with regards to turnover and employs approximately 4500 people.
Contact:
Blanka Růžičková
Press Spokeswoman
UNIPETROL, a. s.
Telephone: +420 225 001 407, +420 731 881 111
E-mail: blanka.ruzickova@unipetrol.cz