Our organisation

Hartwig Michels joined BASF in 1992 where he started his career in the Finance department. Having held senior managing positions in Controlling and Global Marketing in Germany and Singapore, he headed different global and regional business units. In 2008, he became President of BASF’s Procurement. 

Hartwig Michels was appointed President Region Europe & MEA in 2013 and assumed his current position as President Petrochemicals Division in 2017.

He has a background in banking and studied Business Administration at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland.

Richard Roudeix is currently responsible for LyondellBasell’s Olefins business for the Europe region and the president of LyondellBasell companies in France. He has held roles in France, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands and the USA, with business experience in Europe, North America and Asia with LyondellBasell and predecessor companies Basell, Elenac, Montell and Shell.  A significant proportion of his career has been in the polymers business. Richard is a graduate of the Ecole des Mines engineering school and of a post-graduate program from French Petroleum Institute.Since 2012, Richard has been appointed Chairman of the Association of Petrochemicals Producers in Europe (now renamed Petrochemicals Europe)

Caroline Ciuciu took up her role as EPCA Chief Executive Officer on January 1, 2017.

Under her leadership, in close cooperation with the Board and advisory bodies, EPCA embarked on a transformation journey into the leading European ideas marketplace for the global petrochemical community.
Building upon the unparalleled reputation of the EPCA Annual Meetings, Caroline actively developed the second, programmatic pillar of the organisation. She launched a program portfolio connecting thought leadership and corporate sharpness to generate fresh ideas for a smarter and inclusive development of the sector.
This includes the Digitisation in the Petrochemical Supply Chain, a series of research studies and events, in partnership with Vlerick Business School, and a multidimensional exploration of the Talent Management and Leadership, with the support of Accenture, EY and the Antwerp Management School.
Caroline’s organizational overhaul includes rejuvenating the EPCA team, revisiting EPCA governance and redesigning its digital communications strategy.

Prior to her current role, Caroline Ciuciu held several positions in government relations and regulatory affairs in France and Belgium. Her industry career started in 1998 with COGEMA/AREVA in France, followed by three years in FORATOM in Belgium. She then moved from the nuclear energy sector to metals and mining, joining ERAMET in Paris in 2007. In 2012 she became EU Public Affairs Director of Albemarle Europe and moved back to Belgium.

Caroline graduated in International Private Law and Business Law at the University of Paris l Pantheon-Sorbonne.

Born in Thionville, France, Gilles Ripoche graduated both from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Industries Chimiques de Nancy (ENSIC) with a Master Degree in Chemical Engineering and from the IFP School (Institut Français du Pétrole) with a Master Degree in Petroleum Engineering, option refining, engineering & gas. He joined ExxonMobil in 1998 as Adhesion process engineer at the Gravenchon Chemical plant. Gilles is fluent in French, English and has basic notions in Dutch and German.

In 2000, Mr. Ripoche ended his assignment as Adhesion process engineer by starting up the new Jinsen resin plant in China. Just afterwards, he moved to Breda,NL where he held several refining & supply roles optimizing products and raw materials between the refineries of Rotterdam and Antwerp. Gilles returned to chemicals in 2003, at the Brussels Headquarters. He held there multiple regional planning, logistics and optimization positions within basic chemicals and intermediates organizations.

Mr. Ripoche became Gravenchon refinery and basic chemicals coordination manager in 2010, where he helped improving the profitability of the refinery and managed the interfaces with harbor authorities, 3rd party terminals & logistic joint ventures (SHMPP board member). In 2012, he move to Houston, where he took the position of Basic Chemicals financial planning manager. 2 years later, Gilles joined an aromatics major project venture as project planning manager. In 2014, Gilles moved to the Gas and Power Marketing organization as AP regional business team lead & US commercial advisor for the natural gas liquid value chain. His main responsibilities consisted in leading a cross-functional team focusing on business opportunities and value generation at the interface between upstream, chemicals and refining businesses, leveraging Exxonmobil integration and scale.

Gilles returned to Gravenchon in 2016 as chemical profit improve manager before taking the position of chemical technical director in December 2017. He was leading a team of ~180 employees covering among others process technical, central laboratory, financial analysis, quality and site supply chain departments before moving to Brussels as Basic Chemicals Global Product Executive as of September 1st. During this period he was also the Exxonmobil member at the European Ethylene Producers Committee (EEPC).

Gilles is 48, married and is the father of 3 girls 19, 16 and 13.

Dr. Joachim Dahm was born in 1963 and studied in Germany and the USA. With a PhD in physics, he joined the former Hüls AG (later merged into Degussa-Hüls and Evonik) in 1990 and has since worked in various functions, e.g. research & development, engineering, in-house consulting, management, controlling, including as VP Fine Chemicals and Head of Corporate Controlling at Evonik.

Since July 2020 he holds the position as President Performance Materials.

Kate Johnson was appointed General Manager Intermediates EUAF with effect from January 1^st. 2017. Based in the Netherlands, she is accountable for the commercial delivery, and P&L, for a range of Chemical products in EUAF (Solvents, propylene oxide-related products, Ethylene Oxide, Styrene Monomer and Higher Olefins and Derivatives) with a team of about 100 people in a variety of commercial roles. The challenge in the role comes from the variety of markets as well as leading the community.

Kate joined Shell in the UK in 1986 after completing a chemistry degree. Her career in Shell has been largely in Chemicals - in commercial roles in different product lines, as well as in projects. Outside of Shell Chemicals, but within Shell, Kate has enjoyed stints in crude oil trading, Group Finance, procurement and the Shell bitumen and sulphur businesses.

She is recognized for driving performance and growth with an energizing and collaborative style with ability to quickly adapt to new situations and lead teams to respond.  She is a challenging but caring leader who builds environment of trust.

She also has a passion for diversity – representing the Downstream Businesses in the Shell Netherlands executive committee for the Shell women’s network as well as having been on the steering committee for D&I for the European Petrochemicals Association.

Leonardo Mascolo born in Foggia (Italy), is married and has an eight year old daughter.

He holds a degree in Electronic Engineering from Bologna University with a specialization in TLCs and Microelectronics and a post-grade Master in Telecommunications (1994, I.S.S.T., Rome) and one in Business Management (2001, LUISS Business School, Rome).

He joined Repsol Group in 1999 as Production Assistant at Repsol’s PMMA plant in Rome, Italy.

In early 2000, he took on the position of Production, Logistic & TI.

In June 2002 he was named General Manager of Repsol Polivar S.p.A., position that he maintained until 2008 when the PMMA business was sold to Arkema by Repsol.

In mid-2008 Mr. Mascolo moved to Repsol’s Headquarters (Madrid, Spain) as Product Manager for Olefins & Aromatics until the end of 2010.

Since January 2011 he is Repsol’s Base Petrochemicals Director.

Mr. Paweł Szostek is a graduate of University of Gdansk.

He has completed postgraduate studies of European Law and Integration at the Technical University of Gdansk and he has also gained a title of ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants).

Since 2005 he holds various positions at PKN ORLEN S.A. with last three positions of Director of Sales Controlling Department at PKN ORLEN S.A., CFO of ORLEN OIL and Director of Key Account Wholesale Services at PKN ORLEN S.A.

Since 1st of June 2018 he holds the position of Executive Director of Petrochemical Sales. He also serves as Member of the Board of ORLEN KolTrans (Poland), Paramo (Czech Republic) and Ventus Nafta (Lithuania).

Katja Wodjereck serves as Commercial Director for Europe, Middle East, Africa and India for Dow Industrial Solutions. She is accountable for the long-term strategy and the regional P&L of a $ 1,2 billion industry-leading portfolio that offers a wide range of products and services that enables more sustainable manufacturing, consumer and energy solutions. She was appointed into her current role in August 2018.
Wodjereck joined Dow at the end of 2001. During her 19-year career with Dow, she has held several leadership positions in commercial, asset management and marketing across various businesses and market segments including Packaging & Specialty Plastics, Energy and Microbial, Oil, Gas & Mining and lately Industrial Solutions, besides international assignments in Latin America and corporate leadership positions as director of Dow Antwerp, Belgium.
Wodjereck graduated in International Business Management from the University of Applied Sciences Trier, Germany and Universidad Viña del Mar, Chile and holds an MBA from the Dow Northwood Executive MBA program.

Chet M. Thompson

President, American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers

Chet Thompson began his role as president of the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers AFPM) in May 2015. Thompson leads a staff that advocates for petroleum refiners and petrochemical manufacturers before Congress and the Executive Branch on a broad range of public policy issues. AFPM, under his leadership, works to emphasize the importance of petroleum refiners and petrochemical manufacturers and their positive impact on U.S. manufacturing, jobs growth, energy independence and national security.

Prior to joining AFPM, Thompson was a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Crowell and Moring LLP, where he was chairman of the Environment & Natural Resources Group, one of the country’s premier environmental practices. His practice included counseling, litigation, and regulatory and legislative representation for a wide array of clients under major environmental statutes, including the Clean Air Act; the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, the Resource Conservation Act; and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, Liability and Recovery Act. While at Crowell Morning he represented AFPM as external counsel for nine years.

Thompson previously served as deputy general counsel at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) where he provided legal advice to the Agency’s administrator, general counsel and program offices. Before joining EPA in 2004, he spent 10 years at Collier Shannon Scott PLLC, where his work focused on the Clean Air Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

Thompson has been recognized as one of the leading lawyers in the U.S. by Chambers & Partners, and was awarded a Certificate of Accommodation by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2006. Thompson holds a B.A. in Political Science from Boston College and a J.D. from the Catholic University Columbus School of Law. He and his family reside in Potomac, Maryland.

• 2015 – today  –  Covestro Deutschland AG Leverkusen, Procurement Global Logistics.
• 2010 – 2015  –  Bayer AG Leverkusen, Procurement, Global storage, bulk shipping and plant logistics.
• 2006 – 2010  –  Bayer AG Leverkusen, Procurement Global Plant Logistics.
• 1989 – 2006  –  Bayer Antwerp NV – different operational & site logistics management functions.
• 1988 – 1989  –  Steinweg NV Antwerp – shipping clerc.
• 1985 – 1986  –  Lloyd insurance  NV – insurance clerc.

Samuel Alonso is 39 years old, married and has two kids.

He holds a BA Hons degree in International Business and Languages from the Technological University Dublin, Dublin.

Samuel joined LKW WALTER in 2006 in Austria and he has held several positions in operation logistics and sales on both regional and international level during that time.

He has a Sales Logistics Director role since 2019. For the last 6 years he has been directly involved on a pan-European KAM role with several multinationals in the chemical industry. Samuel combines this activities in the chemical sector with other business segments such as Automotive and FMCG. He is a key influencer within commercial and operations teams in his organisation.

• Swiss, married, two children
• Master degree in Corporate Finance
• 15 years with Bertschi, several positions as e.g. Head Merger & Acquisitions, MD of Nordic Bulkers (100% subsidiary of Bertschi), Group CFO, Head market entry MiddleEast and Plastics Hub Strategy Europe
• Most recent 5 years Managing Director of Business Unit Liquids Europe

Since August 1^st , 2018 Group CEO of Bertschi

Guy Bessant was appointed President, Stolthaven Terminals, a division of Stolt-Nielsen Limited, in March 2015. Prior to relocating to the Netherlands, he had more than fifteen years of experience in the chemical and transportation industries within the Asia Pacific and Middle East region having held senior management positions in Sasol, Covestro and Stolt-Nielsen.

He holds a BA in Modern Chinese Studies with Management from the University of Leeds (U.K.), a postgraduate diploma in International Commercial Law from Northumbria University (U.K.), and an MBA from the University of Strathclyde (U.K.).

Caroline Ciuciu took up her role as EPCA Chief Executive Officer on January 1, 2017. 

Under her leadership, in close cooperation with the Board and advisory bodies, EPCA embarked on a transformation journey into the leading European ideas marketplace for the global petrochemical community. 
Building upon the unparalleled reputation of the EPCA Annual Meetings, Caroline actively developed the second, programmatic pillar of the organisation. She launched a program portfolio connecting thought leadership and corporate sharpness to generate fresh ideas for a smarter and inclusive development of the sector. 
This includes the Digitisation in the Petrochemical Supply Chain, a series of research studies and events, in partnership with Vlerick Business School, and a multidimensional exploration of the Talent Management and Leadership, with the support of Accenture, EY and the Antwerp Management School. 
Caroline’s organizational overhaul includes rejuvenating the EPCA team, revisiting EPCA governance and redesigning its digital communications strategy. 

Prior to her current role, Caroline Ciuciu held several positions in government relations and regulatory affairs in France and Belgium. Her industry career started in 1998 with COGEMA/AREVA in France, followed by three years in FORATOM in Belgium. She then moved from the nuclear energy sector to metals and mining, joining ERAMET in Paris in 2007. In 2012 she became EU Public Affairs Director of Albemarle Europe and moved back to Belgium.

Caroline graduated in International Private Law and Business Law at the University of Paris l Pantheon-Sorbonne.

Michael Dries’ career with BASF started in 1990, when he joined BASF AG’s Logistics Procurement Department. In 1996 he became Head of Logistics at Shanghai BASF Colorants and Auxiliaries, Shanghai, P.R. China, followed by an assignment as Head of Logistics and Technical Procurement at BASF Company Ltd., Seoul, Rep. of Korea. After one year at BASF AG, Ludwigshafen he was in 2002 appointed Director, Logistics, BASF YPC Company Ltd., Nanjing, P.R. China. He was subsequently appointed in 2006 Vice President, General Services at BASF SE, Ludwigshafen and led as of 2010 the senior project Opal 21 / Logistics. Mr. Dries assumes his current position as Vice President, Global Logistics Procurement since 2015.
Michael Dries was born in Eltville, Germany, in 1961. He studied economics and business administration at the Universities of Mainz and Cologne.

With over 30 years’ experience in the international world of Intermediate Chemicals, Mark has had leadership roles of increasing commercial responsibility from directing Businesses to most recently Sales responsibility for Europe, MEAF and Asia.

With the move in July 2020 to Supply Chain Director Europe and AFMEI, Mark has responsibility for delivering supply chain excellence across all divisions in Lyondellbasell.

Mark graduated with an MBA from Villanova University, Pennsylvania and holds a BA Hons in Business Studies from Kingston Business School, London.

Mark is married with two children and currently lives in the Hague, NL.

Liz holds an HND Business Studies from Crewe & Alsager College and was awarded ICI industrial student sponsorship.

She started her career in ICI and followed Phil Browitt to join Agility as Strategic Procurement Manager in 2000. She has occupied several senior positions within the company over the years.

She currently holds the position of Vice President Europe.

Mr Ruiz took over the position ofLogistic and Customer Service Director at Repson in September 2020.  

He started his career in 1998 at Repsol Chemistry as Operation engineer in the new OP/SM plant, that at this time was a project of construction of a new facility. He was promoted to utilities and cogeneration Power Plant Manager in June 2005 of the Chemistry area of Tarragona Repsol facility and later, in June 2007 Mr. Ruiz was moved to the position of Production Managerat Intermediates products plants in Repsol chemistry Tarragona.

In February 2011, after been working at Tarragona site for 13 years, he leaved Repsol Chemistry and moved to Dynasol.From February 2011 until September 2015, he was in charge of Dynasol Santander Plant, with the responsibility of all the processes of the site. From September 1998 to February 2011 I have been working in Repsol chemistry in Tarragona in different areas related to intermediates products of the Repsol Chemistry business.

From September 2015 to September 2020 Mr. Ruiz worked as Operation Director for Dynasol Group, a joint-venture Company between Repsol and the Mexican Group KUO at 50%. He was in charge of the Global Operation team, with facilities in Spain, Mexico and two plants with different partners in China.  Dynasol is one the top ten global leaders in Rubber industry and with its own technology in Solution and Emulsion Rubber process.

Before working in the chemistry business of Repsol, from 1995 1998 he worked as Associated Teacher at Universidad Autónoma of Barcelona (UAB), in the Chemical Engineering department. Mr. Ruiz isgraduated in Industrial Chemistry and hold a Master in Biotechnology applied in Chemical Engineering and Laboral Risks prevention. He also attended a Leadership in Exponential Changing World at the MIT.

Since June 2020, Michail Stahlhut is theCEO of the Hupac Group.

From August 2018 to June 2020 Mr. Stahlhut was CEO of Hupac Intermodal AG and from 2010 to 2018 he was CEO of SBB Cargo International AG, a joint venture between SBB Cargo and Hupac.

His previous roles include Managing Director Technics at Arriva Deutschland (2006 – 2010),  Managing Director at Eichholz Verkauf & Logistik (2002 – 2006) and Head of Cargobahnhof Mannheim at DB Cargo AG (1998 – 2002).

Mr. Stahlhut has a degree in Civil Engineering and Environmental Technology from TU Hamburg.

Jean-Marc VIALLATTE, 45 years old, is a graduate engineer from IFMA (Institut Français de Mécanique Avancée) in France and from Cambridge University in the UK. He holds a Master’s in mechanical engineering and automated production systems, and an APICS certification.

In 1997 he joined the American group Avery Dennison as customer logistics Project Manager, before heading the introduction of an ERP system for France. He later held a number of Lean Sigma heavily oriented operational posts in plants, being consecutively production manager, plant manager and operations manager France.

In 2006 he joined the Hamelin group as Subsidiary General Manager before becoming Group Managing Director in charge of operations, supply chain and information systems. In this position he oversaw the complete transformation of the group, and put in place a new organization based on standardized processes and an SAP solution rolled out across the group’s 50 sites on the five continents.

In 2013 he joined the Tarkett group as supply chain Vice President for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, creating the group’s supply chain function, and later became the group’s Global supply chain Director in charge of the transformation.

Peter Devos is Managing Director at ECTA, the European Chemical Transport Association.

In 1988, he graduated as AgroEngineer from the University of Louvain, Belgium and holds a second master in Industrial and Business Management.

After a Supply Chain career of more than 25 years at Monsanto in different leading supply chain functions and disciplines across Europe, Peter started up his own independent company in 2016. As independent Supply Chain Practitioner, he is now focusing to further improve the Chemical logistics processes and this together with all stakeholders across the Chemical Supply Chain.

Having graduated in science from the University of Edinburgh, Gina’s career in petrochemicals spans the last 40+ years.

After a short period in biomedical research, she spent 10 years at Exxon Chemical in marketing, steam cracker operations, and shipping both in the UK and the Brussels international HQ.

During her time at Exxon she was a founding member of WISTA (Women In Shipping and Trading Association), with 5 industry friends. WISTA has since grown into a global organisation offering training, support and networking opportunities to women in the industry.

Having founded the trading and logistics company, Integra in 1989, most of her career has been in trading and supply chain.

In addition to her Integra and related company board positions, Gina heads the EPCA TLTT board advisory committee, and sits on the board committees of the SCIC (Singapore), GPCA (Mid East), BTS Tankers Singapore, a charitable medical foundation in Europe, and two Asian based independent Family office Boards.

Gina is a regular speaker at conferences on shipping, logistics and petrochemicals for the main consulting companies.

In Asia as part of her commitment to social welfare, training and education she talks and works with companies to develop strategies for social impact investing both at local start-up and government body levels.

On a personal level, Gina is married with 2 university and post grad aged children. In her spare time, she hopes to finally finish her diploma in fashion jewellery design and manufacturing at JDMIS in Singapore eventually, continues co-writing a book on Scottish social history in conjunction with the Scottish and Celtic history dept. of the University of Edinburgh.

Raffaele Aguiari is a Senior Manager with 25 years of experience in the chemical industry at major multinationals (Versalis, LyondellBasell and INEOS) in several departments: Engineering, Sales & Marketing, Strategic Planning, Finance, Business Management. He holds a Chemical Engineering Degree from the University of Padua (Italy) and a General Management MBA from the Rotterdam School of Management.

Raffaele joined INEOS in 2012 as the new Developments Business Manager and is now responsible for the P&L of five plants located in Southern Europe manufacturing Polyethylene and Polypropylene.

Ms. Avital started her career at LyondellBasell in 2010 as Internal Audit Manager. Since 2020 she is Sr. Manager Internal Controls, leading development and implementation of goals, policies, priorities and procedures relating to Internal control over financial reporting. She holds a B.A Economics and is a Certified Public Accountant.  Since 2018 she has participated in qualifying D&I trainings and actively contributed to the development of the D&I structure in LyondellBasell (LYB), including the LYB Gender Diversity group and the LYB Employee Networks.

Mr Benedetti joined BASF in 2016 as Talent Acquisition Officer. Since then he covered the functions of HR and Diversity and Inclusion Specialist, being responsible for developing, aligning and executing global, regional and national measures to implement the BASF'S D&I strategy.  Mr Benedetti holds a Bachelor in Sciences of Behaviour and Social Relations and a Master in Psychology of Organizations and Services.

After graduating from Imperial College London with a degree in Chemical Engineering in 2008, Lucia began working for Repsol, on their graduate training scheme, obtaining a masters specialised in Petroleum Refining & Petrochemicals from the Instituto Superior de la Energía.

Since then she has been holding several positions in the company, including:

- Senior polyolefin healthcare specialist, Technical Service and Development 2019- present

- Polypropylene Film & Fibers specialist, Technical Service and Development 2013-2019

- Production engineer, Puertollano Refinery, 2009-2013

She is currently in charge of project development and serves as technical advisor to customers worldwide withexpert product, processing and application knowledgefor all Repsol Healthcare Polyolefin products. In her role she also works closely with account managers and product managers in developing and implementing product portfolio strategies and identifying opportunities to drive growth and create value in the field of medical and pharmaceutical applications.

Jasper de Kruif holds a Master in Sustainable Processes and Energy Technology. He joined LyondellBasell in 2008 as a Plant Support Process Engineer. In 2013, he moved to a new position in Operations planning and Optimization. Since 2016, Jasper is holding a position in Commercial Management.

Joris Goethals started his career with Adpo in 2006 where he currently holds the position of Supply Chain Manager. He previously worked in several departments within the Adpo Group. Joris is a strong operations professional with a focus on innovation

Marina Ismael Michen holds a PhD in Materials Engineering from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany. She works for The Dow Chemical Company since 2011, where she experienced different positions from technical to commercial. Since March 2018 she works for the Industrial Solutions business as the Global Market Segment Leader for the Crop Defense segment and as the Market Segment Manager for Food, Feed and Crop Defense in EMEAI. She is Brazilian and lives in Switzerland with her husband and children.

Charlotte has more than 10 years of experience at VOPAK, where she has covered a variety of managerial roles in sales and commercial in SE Asia, Middle East, China and the Netherlands. She held a BA in Transportation, Logistics and Distribution and a Master in Business Administration. In 2011 she was President of the Member of the Young Vopak Committee.

Laurence Pavillard is holding a Master degree in Organization and Human Resources from the Pantheon-Sorbonne University (Paris 1). Over her thirty-year career within the Total Group, Laurence held different positions in the HR department with responsibilities for training, recruitment, compensation and benefits or workforce management. From 2010 until 2018, she was responsible for school relations and partnerships for the Marketing & Services Division. She is currently the Head of Diversity, HR Campaigns and Studies unit within the Career management department of Total Refining & Chemicals division.

Pilar brings over 20 years of progressive experience in corporate and business HR functions where she provided thought leadership, tactical design, delivery and oversight to a variety of state-of-the art and transformational HR, talent development and employee engagement initiatives across global locations.

In her current role, she is responsible for leading Repsol´s overall corporate culture strategy, diversity and inclusion and employee engagement initiatives. Committed and passionate about collaborative strategic development of innovative and socially responsible solutions to support business goals.

Pilar is an Executive Coach and holds a Bachelor´s degree in Psychology and a master in Human Resources from IE Business School. She serves the Board of the International Human Capital Organization and actively participates in several organizations committed to promote and highlight the valuable contribution of diverse and inclusive workplaces.

Paul Ruigt started his career with SABIC in 2006 where he currently holds the position of Category Manager for Shipping & Barging. He previously worked in the Supply Chain Polymers department and held a position within SABIC’s Company Procurement department. 

Paul holds a Master degree in Industrial Engineering and Management Science from the Technical University Eindhoven.