Borealis Supervisory Board appoints Markku Korvenranta as Executive Vice President for Base Chemicals

At today’s meeting in Vienna, Austria, the Supervisory Board of Borealis, a leading provider of chemical and innovative plastics solutions, has appointed Markku Korvenranta as Executive Vice President for Base Chemicals. He succeeds Gerd Löbbert who assumes responsibility for the Polyolefins Business Group. Both changes will be effective on October 1, 2010.

Markku Korvenranta has over 20 years of experience with Borealis and its predecessor companies in various finance and business roles in Finland, Denmark, Belgium and Austria. In his most recent position at Borealis he was Senior Vice President Olefins & Sourcing responsible for the feedstock and olefins businesses as well as procurement. His recent previous leadership positions include Vice President Business Planning and Analysis and Vice President of the Business Unit Phenol and Aromatics. Between October 2006 and May 2007 Markku Korvenranta was acting Chief Financial Officer. He was born in Finland in 1966 and is married with three children.

“During his time with Borealis, Markku has gained broad experience in a variety of key roles in the financial and commercial arenas,” says Borealis Chief Executive Mark Garrett. “With his knowledge and capability, I am convinced he will help us to successfully drive this important part of our business forward. In addition, he will continue to lead procurement providing continuity in important supplier relations and ongoing development activities.”

High on the agenda at today’s Supervisory Board meeting was the impressive progress of Borouge’s major expansion project in Abu Dhabi. Borouge, Borealis’ joint venture with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, has initiated the start-up of its Borouge 2 operations as planned. The new world-scale ethane cracker, Olefins Conversion Unit, and polyethylene (PE) unit as well as the polypropylene (PP) units, the first at the plant, are successfully going through start-up procedures. Once fully operational, the expanded plant will have the capacity to manufacture 2 million tonnes of polyolefins per year. By the end of 2013, Borouge’s total production capacity in Ruwais will further increase to 4.5 million tonnes per year.  

“We are very proud about the ongoing smooth start-up of Borouge 2, which is a true achievement for such a mega-project,” says His Excellency, Khadem Al Qubaisi, Chairman of Borealis’ Supervisory Board. “Borouge 2 is a milestone in our global growth strategy which we will now continue with Borouge 3. The joint presence of Borealis, Borouge and NOVA Chemicals at this year’s K-fair in Düsseldorf, Germany, clearly shows our capabilities, commitment and caring approach. We are positioning our strong family of olefin/polyolefin leaders to be among the top 10 players in the industry worldwide.”

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For further information, please contact:

Kerstin Meckler, Director Communications, 
Tel. +43 122 400 389
Email: kerstin.meckler@borealisgroup.com