In light of Hydro's successful acquisition of VAW, Germany becomes Hydro's largest market and, next to Norway, the country with the largest concentration of operational activities. Some changes in Hydro's corporate management structure will also take place.
Leiv L. Nergaard (57) has been appointed President of Hydro's holding companies in Germany, including those formed to accommodate the VAW acquisition, effective March 1, 2002. Nergaard will focus on optimizing Hydro's corporate presence in Germany and the European Union. Hydro's holding companies in the EU will continue reporting to Nergaard. He is presently Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.
John O. Ottestad will join the Corporate Management Board as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, effective March 1, 2002. The Corporate Strategy Team, Finance, Tax, Investor Relations, Mergers & Acquisitions and Accounting staffs will report to Ottestad, as will the Petrochemicals, Pronova and Hydro Business Partner divisions. Ottestad (52) is an engineer and has been with Hydro since 1975. His experience includes heading the Magnesium division and the Oil Marketing division.Ottestad presently heads up Mergers & Acquisitions.
To help expedite Hydro's development into a high performance organization, Alexandra Bech will join the Corporate Management Board as Executive Vice President Human Resources, effective January 15, 2002. In addition to heading Corporate Human Resources, she will be the reporting point for the staffs of Health, Environment & Safety, Social Responsibility and Information Systems, as well as the Corporate Center administration and Corporate Procurement Team. Bech,(36) an attorney, has been associated with Hydro since 1993.
Thor Håkstad was recently nominated to the board of the Swiss company Sulzer Ltd. and intends to continue building up a portfolio of external consultancy and board engagements. He will subsequently relinquish his follow up responsibilities for the Petrochemical and Pronova divisions, but continue to lead ownership restructuring efforts for the Petrochemical division.
Håkstad is presently Executive Vice President, Chairman of the Board for Petrochemical Division and Hydro Pronova a.s.
Wenche Agerup has been appointed head of the Mergers & Acquisitions staff, effective March 1, 2002, reporting to John Ottestad. Agerup (37) has been with Hydro since 1997 and recently joined the Mergers & Acquisitions staff from her previous position as lawyer in the Legal Department.