Today, the Annual General Meeting of the globally operating lubricant producer FUCHS PETROLUB AG in Mannheim, Germany, elected Professor Dr. Jürgen Strube as a member of the FUCHS supervisory board which subsequently appointed him as its new chairman. Strube has been the chairman of the executive board of BASF for many years and is now the chairman of BASF's supervisory board. He succeeds Dr. Bernd Müller-Berghoff who for reasons of age resigned as chairman of the supervisory board of FUCHS PETROLUB AG after 13 successful years.
At the same time, change in the company's executive board and its group executive committee was announced effective 1 January 2004. This will provide for a young management team and for entrepreneurial succession.
Dr. Manfred Fuchs who has been leading the company for 41 years and made it one of the world's leading lubricant manufacturers, will resign at the end of 2003 as chairman of the executive board. He will stay close to the company as its principal shareholder and is expected to move to its supervisory board. His successor will be Stefan Fuchs on 1 January 2004 who today as an executive board member is in charge of Western Europe and is the third generation of the Fuchs family and its entrepreneurial role.
Dr. Alexander Selent is the executive board member in charge of finance and controlling and will be appointed deputy chairman on 1 January 2004.
New board members from 2004 on will be Frank Kleinman who is in charge of FUCHS' business in North and Latin America and as a deputy member Dr. Georg Lingg. Lingg is FUCHS PETROLUB's head of technical and will succeed Ingo Pauler who for reasons of age resigns on 31 December 2003 as executive board member technical.
With its worldwide activities, FUCHS has a regional organisation and management pattern. In total, the six world regions are headed by a management team which together with the executive board forms FUCHS PETROLUB's group executive committee. The executive vice presidents being in charge of these world regions will be members of the group executive committee and will hold general powers of attorney. They are Frans de Manielle, Klaus Hartig, Dr. Ralph Rheinboldt and Alf Untersteller. Dr. Lutz Lindemann has already been a member of the group executive committee with a general power of attorney of FUCHS PETROLUB AG.
Mannheim, 5 June 2003
FUCHS PETROLUB AG
Public Relations
Friesenheimer Str. 17
68169 Mannheim
Tel.: +49 (0)621 3802-104
The press release is also available on the internet under www.fuchs-oil.de.