ÖBAG advertises CEO position: Search for Edith Hlawati's successor underway

Requirements profile and strategic direction

International headhunting firm Boyden has been commissioned to handle the personnel search, specifically Andreas Landgrebe. The CEO position is considered the most significant management post in the Republic of Austria. The job posting requires pronounced strategic thinking and action, strong communication skills at an international level, experience with complex stakeholder structures, as well as capital market and supervisory board experience.

Applicants must explicitly bring industry-related management experience. This deliberately distinguishes the requirements profile from the background of the current CEO, who worked as a corporate lawyer before moving to the top of the holding. Industry insiders assume that Austrian citizenship is de facto a requirement.

The strategic priorities include cost-efficient energy supply, the expansion of critical infrastructure, and the strengthening of resilience and economic sovereignty, for example in the data sector at the telecom company. ÖBAG is also intended to act internationally as a door-opener for the domestic economy, promote the development of start-ups, and advance scientific collaborations.

Salary, SPÖ demands, and political context

For the position, a lower salary than Hlawati's is to be expected under the current austerity course. She receives a fixed annual salary of 585,000 euros, with bonuses of up to 750,000 euros upon achieving targets. The SPÖ is attacking Hlawati over her compensation and is trying to gain a foothold in ÖBAG.

The Social Democrats are pushing proportionally for a dual leadership. The responsible Economics Minister Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer (ÖVP) rejected this demand. He told the KURIER that a dual board would be the epitome of party repoliticization. Sources from the ministry later confirmed that a dual board would have been the "Inbegriff der Partei-Repolitisierung".

The ÖVP had given up the Finance Ministry but transferred responsibility for ÖBAG to the black (ÖVP-controlled) Economics Ministry under Hattmannsdorfer in order to secure control over the state holding. "Es gilt, die standortpolitische Ausrichtung der ÖBAG und ihrer Beteiligungen sicherzustellen", the minister emphasized.

ÖBAG's supervisory board chairman Günther Ofner also formulated expectations: "Die gesuchte Führungspersönlichkeit soll auf der Grundlage der Industriestrategie der Regierung und der ÖBAG-Strategie sowohl aktives Beteiligungsmanagement sowie auch Initiativen für gezielte Zukunftsinvestitionen in die Stärkung des Wirtschaftsstandortes umsetzen". Ofner also emphasized that the candidate should ideally bring industry experience and master dealing with complex stakeholder structures.

OMV, Verbund chief, and industry in focus

Hattmannsdorfer is meanwhile placing great hopes in the new OMV CEO Emma Delaney, a gas expert. OMV could position itself as the leading gas supplier in continental Europe and, similar to the Black Sea project Neptun Deep, explore further gas deposits in Eastern and Southeastern Europe. Neptun Deep is currently considered the largest gas extraction project in Europe.

A prominent rejection has already come from Michael Strugl, the Verbund chief. He told the KURIER that he rejected ambitions for the ÖBAG CEO position. This means that at least one frequently mentioned name is out of the running.

The holding will therefore continue to be led by a sole CEO in the future and not by a dual board. Industry insiders interpret the new profile as a sign of a strategic realignment of ÖBAG away from primarily administrative management toward an industrial focus.