Helge Aasen to take over as Managing Director o...

Helge Aasen (46) will take over as Managing Director of Elkem in
conjunction with Ole Enger's appointment as President and CEO of the
Renewable Energy Corporation (REC) and Bjørn Wiggen's - the present
MD of Elkem - appointment as Enger's successor at Sapa.


Helge Aasen has an MSc in Engineering from the Norwegian University
of Science and Technology (NTNU), and has participated in the
executive leadership development programme at IMD in Switzerland. In
the course of his 19 years at Elkem, he has acquired very broad
industrial experience of most of the company's different functions,
from sales through operations to logistics and purchasing.
Mr Aasen has worked both at plants and in corporate functions
internationally and in Norway. In the past few years, he has held the
posts of Division Director for Elkem Carbon (2000-2007), after which
he was appointed Managing Director of Elkem Solar AS, a role he will
continue to fill in addition to that of Managing Director of the
parent company Elkem AS.
"Elkem has many strong, competent employees. In the short term, our
most important tasks will be to ensure that Elkem Solar is phased in
as planned, and to adapt our business operations to today's very
challenging market situation," declares Helge Aasen.
"I see a number of development opportunities when the markets
improve. We have good market positions and are strong in terms of
technological development and operations. These strengths, combined
with an active focus on sales and product development, mean that
Elkem is well positioned to emerge from the global recession with
enhanced positions. I am very motivated to tackle this challenge, and
am looking forward to getting started," says Helge Aasen.
Bjørn Wiggen has concurrently been appointed new Chairman of Elkem's
Board of Directors, and will continue as member of Orkla's Group
Executive Board with responsibility for Sapa and Elkem.
"I wish Helge Aasen and Bjørn Wiggen every success in their new
roles. They are eminently qualified to contribute to further value
creation at Elkem," asserts Dag J. Opedal, President and CEO of
Orkla.

Elkem, Elkem Solar and Sapa are fully owned companies in the Orkla
Group. See also
www.elkem.com


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