MOSCOW, June 1, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nalco (NYSE:NLC), providing essential expertise for water, energy and air, announced today that Vaclav Harant has joined the company as General Manager and General Director of Russia with additional responsibility for water and process services in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Harant will aggressively drive growth and profitability in the region Nalco has identified as one of its targeted expansion areas.
"We are pleased to have Vaclav join Nalco," said David Johnson, Nalco Executive Vice President and President, Europe, Africa and Middle East. "He brings an impressive performance record of achieving double-digit growth by focusing on emerging market penetration, market segmentation and technology differentiation. His strong management and language skills provide him the ability to communicate with and motivate his organization to succeed. We are confident he will enjoy success establishing Nalco in this very important market."
Nalco Company OOO is expanding its local support within Russia through the construction of a new manufacturing facility with plans to add a second plant in 2010.
Harant previously had been General Manager for Central and Eastern Europe for Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., a global provider of industrial gases. Prior to being named to that position in 2005, he was Air Products' General Manager, Czech and Slovak Republics. Before joining Air Products in 1995, Harant was a Business Director for Ferox, a leading manufacturer of cryogenic and chemical process equipment. He is a graduate of the Czech Technical University, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering.
"The current economic challenges in Russia provide Nalco with the opportunity to strengthen our leadership and business infrastructure, enabling faster future growth as global industrial growth recovers and translates again into rapid growth for Russian oil, natural gas, steel and other markets where Nalco can bring value," said J. Erik Fyrwald, Nalco Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Our profitable growth strategy is focused on the expansion prospects in the BRIC+ countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and the Middle East and Caspian), to be in the best possible position as their economies return to very high growth rates."
About Nalco
Nalco is the world's leading water treatment and process improvement company, delivering significant environmental, social and economic performance benefits to our customers. We help our customers reduce energy, water and other natural resource consumption, enhance air quality, minimize environmental releases and improve productivity and end products while boosting the bottom line. Together our comprehensive solutions contribute to the sustainable development of customer operations. Nalco is a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index. More than 11,500 Nalco employees operate in 130 countries supported by a comprehensive network of manufacturing facilities, sales offices and research centers to serve a broad range of end markets. In 2008, Nalco achieved sales of more than $4.2 billion. For more information visit www.nalco.com.
The Nalco Company logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=1135
This news release includes forward-looking statements, reflecting current analysis and expectations, based on what are believed to be reasonable assumptions. Forward-looking statements may involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results to differ materially from those projected, stated or implied, depending on many factors, including, without limitation: ability to generate cash, ability to raise capital, ability to refinance, the result of the pursuit of strategic alternatives, ability to execute work process redesign and reduce costs, ability to execute price increases, business climate, business performance, economic and competitive uncertainties, higher manufacturing costs, reduced level of customer orders, changes in strategies, risks in developing new products and technologies, environmental and safety regulations and clean-up costs, foreign exchange rates, the impact of changes in the regulation or value of pension fund assets and liabilities, changes in generally accepted accounting principles, adverse legal and regulatory developments, including increases in the number or financial exposures of claims, lawsuits, settlements or judgments, or the inability to eliminate or reduce such financial exposures by collecting indemnity payments from insurers, the impact of increased accruals and reserves for such exposures, weather-related factors, and adverse changes in economic and political climates around the world, including terrorism and international hostilities, and other risk factors identified by the Company. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that the Company will meet future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. This paragraph is included to provide safe harbor for forward-looking statements, which are not generally required to be publicly revised as circumstances change, and which the Company does not intend to update.