Change in VERBUND Board of Management Completed

A new function in the VERBUND group will be placed in the hands of Dr. Heinz Kaupa at the turn of the year: He is moving from the executive floor of VERBUND-Austrian Hydro Power AG (AHP) into the VERBUND-Austrian Power Grid AG (APG) board of management. Yesterday, Mr. Kaupa, to date active as member of the board of management of the VERBUND producer subsidiaries AHP and Austrian Thermal Power AG (ATP), was appointed member of the board of management as of January 1, 2002 by the APG supervisory board.

In his new function as member of the APG board of management Mr. Kaupa’s task will be to ensure the security of nationwide and international power transportation on the terms of the liberalized market. This includes the completion of the 380-kV grid in Styria and other essential improvements on the high-voltage power grid.

Mr. Heinz Kaupa, born in 1947, has been working for the VERBUND group for eight years. During his term as member of the board of management of Österreichischen Donaukraftwerke AG the Vienna Freudenau power plant on the Danube was completed. As technical director of AHP he was primarily responsible for maintaining and increasing the efficiency of the turbines.

As Mr. Kaupa moves into the APG board of management, the AHP board of management is reduced in size and will be made up of only two persons in future: Dr. Herbert Schröfelbauer and Mag. Michael Amerer.

Thus the changes in the executive suites of VERBUND and its subsidiaries are completed. As reported, the previous deputy chairman of the VERBUND board of management, Dr. Herbert Schröfelbauer, will become chairman of the board of management of Austrian Hydro Power AG, Austria’s largest producer of hydroelectric power, as of January 1, 2002. In this function. Mr. Schröfelbauer will particularly also attend to the project of bringing together the hydroelectric power plants of AHP and E.ON Wasserkraft GmbH.

The VERBUND board of management is downsized to three members, as Mr. Schröfelbauer’s position will not be filled. The responsibility for production in the Holding board of management will be taken over by Mr. Hans Haider, Chairman of the Board of Management. Dr. Michael Pistauer, on the board and responsible for finances, will take over the agenda of the grid.