Solvay CEO Reshuffles Executive Committee

Belgian chemical producer Solvay is reshuffling its managing board, the Executive Committee, as it transitions from former CEO Jean-Pierre Clamadieu to new chief executive Ilham Kadri.

The Brussels-based group has announced two personnel changes, said to reflect plans announced at the end of 2018. Two executives, Pascal Juéry and Cécile Tandeau de Marsac, are stepping down.

In a statement, Solvay said Tandeau de Marsac, who has headed Human Resources for the past seven years, has decided to leave, to focus on personal projects. She will remain in the position until the end of June 2019, however.

The board said the executive has played an important role in the key stages of Solvay’s long-running transformation process, including the integration of the Solvay and Rhodia teams and the teams from Cytec and other companies that have joined the group.

Pascal Juéry, member of Solvay's Executive Committee since 2014, is said to be leaving the group for personal reasons. He will continue to manage the planned sale of the polyamides activities to BASF, until the process is completed in September. In the interim, Ilham Kadri will take over Juéry’s other responsibilities.

Looking to the future, Kadri said that in exchanges with employees, representatives of the European Works Council, customers and investors, four main aspects had crystalized: the need for a shared vision that gives a purpose to the group’s activities; the desire to strengthen collaboration within teams; the importance of the customer and, finally, a more systematic consideration of the returns on investment.

Going forward, Solvay’s Executive Committee will have five members: Ilham Kadri (chairman and CEO); Karim Hajjar (CFO), Vincent De Cuyper, Augusto Di Donfrancesco and Hua Du.