CropEnergies decides succession for executive board

“The change in the executive board after the end of the Annual General Meeting in July 2020 is part of the long-term succession planning”, says Professor Dr Markwart Kunz, chairman of the supervisory board of CropEnergies AG, and continues: “Since being appointed to the board in 2006, Joachim Lutz has decisively shaped the company and developed it further both operationally and strategically as a successful subsidiary within the Südzucker group. Today, CropEnergies is a profitable company and the largest European producer of sustainable ethanol which reduces greenhouse gas emissions in transport. The supervisory board would like to take this opportunity to thank Joachim Lutz for his many years of successful commitment.”

In its meeting on 13 January 2020, the supervisory board has appointed Dr Stephan Meeder (49) as CEO (Speaker of the Executive Board) with effect from the closing of the annual general meeting on 14 July 2020. Meeder has been CFO (Chief Financial Officer of CropEnergies AG since 2015 and will continue to be responsible for this department in addition to his new duties as CEO.

In addition, the supervisory board has appointed Jürgen Böttcher (58) in CropEnergies executive board with effect from 1 May 2020. As CTO (Chief Technical Officer), Böttcher will be responsible for production as well as for research and development. “By appointing the graduate engineer (Diplomingenieur) Jürgen Böttcher to the executive board, we have found an excellent and experienced expert as our Chief Technical Officer,” Kunz adds. Böttcher has worked for Südzucker group since 1990. Since 2006, he has been Technical Director at CropEnergies, responsible for production, maintenance and investment and has played a key role in the establishment and further development of the production facilities. As already announced in July 2019, Chief Sales Officer (CSO) Michael Friedmann (64) will retire and will leave the executive board at the end of February 2020. His successor is Dr Fritz Georg von Graevenitz (42), who had been appointed to the executive board with effect from 1 October 2019.