Herbert Willerth appointed Borealis Deputy CEO

Borealis, a leading provider of innovative, value creating plastics solutions, has announced that Herbert Willerth will assume the newly created role of Deputy Chief Executive, effective from September 1, 2008. In this position, Willerth will have a special focus on Europe and the overall competitiveness of the European plants and support Chief Executive Mark Garrett.

Herbert Willerth, a member of the Executive Board of Borealis, is currently Executive Vice President (EVP) of Operations and Procurement, and will continue to hold this function in combination with his new appointment.

“Borealis is going through an evolutionary transformation process that began last year with the creation of a Base Chemicals business and the appointment of Martin Kuzaj as Executive Vice President (EVP) for Base Chemicals”, explains Borealis Chief Executive Mark Garrett. “At the same time, recognising that our investment project opportunities in the Middle East would largely determine our future success, Henry Sperle assumed the role of EVP for the Middle East and Asia. The appointment of Herbert as Deputy Chief Executive is the next step in this transformation.”

“I am pleased to take responsibility to ensure that we stay well prepared for what lies ahead of us”, comments Herbert Willerth. “I am confident that we will be successful to manage the increasing need to stay competitive with our European operations.”

Herbert Willerth
Herbert Willerth spent almost 30 years working for PCD Polymere based in Austria. He was its CEO when the company merged into the Borealis Group in September 1998. He continued through May 2000 as CEO/Managing Director of Borealis’ Site Austria and is today responsible for the operation of Borealis’ manufacturing sites in Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany and Sweden.

Born in Austria in 1950, Herbert Willerth received his initial education in biochemistry, but he expanded his knowledge about polyolefins while at PCD. Herbert studied General Management at Johannes Kepler University in Austria and has completed the General Management Executive Program at Emory University in Atlanta, USA.