The board of directors at US polyolefin giant LyondellBasell (LYB, Houston, Texas; www.lyondellbasell.com) has selected Peter Vanacker, president and CEO of Finnish refiner Neste, to be the company’s new chief executive officer. Neste recently announced Vanacker’s departure after three years of service, saying he would step down by the middle of next year (see Plasteurope.com of 13.12.2021).

In a press release, LYB said, “Vanacker will assume his role no later than June 2022, upon satisfaction of the notice period under his current employment agreement, at which time he will also join the company’s board of directors.”

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Vanacker succeeds Bhavesh V. “Bob” Patel, who is set to leave on 31 December 2021 and become the new CEO of US polymer technology firm W.R. Grace (see Plasteurope.com of 03.09.2021). Kenneth Lane, LYB’s executive vice-president for global olefins and polyolefins, is to serve as interim CEO upon Patel’s departure.

Before his stint at Neste, Vanacker was with Bayer MaterialScience, which later became Covestro, as executive vice-president and head of the Global Polyurethanes business. Prior to that, he held chief executive positions at former film manufacturer Treofan and Clariant’s fine chemicals spin-off, CABB.