PEOPLE
Bertona to head Azelis
Azelis has appointed Anna Bertona as its new CEO when Dr Hans Joachim Müller retires at the end of the year after ten years at the helm . Bertona has been with the firm for ten years as head of strategy , then CEO and president in the EMEA region since 2016 . In addition , Todd Cottrell will become CEO of Azelis Americas when Frank Bergonzi retires on 30 September . Cottrell has over 30 years of industry experience , mainly in the CASE sector .
Tikoo heads Optime
Indian speciality chemicals company Optime Global has named Rahul Tikoo as its managing director and CEO . Tikoo has 25 years of management experience in the industry , having previously been with Agfa , Akzo Nobel and BYK . Most recently , he was managing director for Huntsman ’ s South Asia business .
Shift at Airedale
UK-based Airedale Group has announced a shift in positions at the head of the business . Richard Ward who joined in November 2022 as business director , will become managing director and take over the day-to-day running of the business ; Chris Chadwick remains as executive chairman , to carry out the role of business development director .
Kemira CEO has died
Kemira president and CEO Jari Rosendal died after a short illness on 31 July . He was 58 . The company announced that he had gone on sick leave on 11 July and a week later said that he would step down by 2024 at the latest . CFO Petri Castrén is acting as interim president and CEO while a successor is sought . Rosendal had also been a board member at Neste , the Finnish Chemical Association and CEFIC .
New CFO at Lanxess
Oliver Stratmann became CFO of Lanxess after the supervisory agreed to Michael Pontzen ’ s request to terminate his appointment early in order to take up a new role outside Germany . Stratmann joined from Celanese in 2014 and has held various management positions , leading the Treasury & Investor Relations department since 2015 and masterminding several major acquisitions .
Martinko promoted
Chemours has appointed Joseph Martinko president of its Thermal & Specialized Solutions ( TSS ) business . He has been active in the chemical industry for 30 years , including about ten within TSS , where he was “ a principal architect of the entire Opteon solutions portfolio ” and had also been senior business director for the Americas .
Sartorato to Olon
Maurizio Sartorato has joined the Olon Group as VP of the Biotech division . In this role , he will have responsibility for the company ’ s two Italian bio hubs , and coordinating the execution of the multi-year strategic business plan . He was previously of Bidachem and was a member of the presidential council of Aschimfarma , the national association of API and intermediate manufacturers .
78 SPECIALITY CHEMICALS MAGAZINE ESTABLISHED 1981