Group Executive Board sets course for the future

In February 2024 Birgit Potrafki joined Salzgitter AG’s Executive Board where two months later she took over the role of CFO from Board colleague Burkhard Becker. Becker, 63, began working for the company in 2010. During his time there he headed various Group units – including as interim CEO of KHS in 2018 – and provided exceptional service to the company as its CFO. According to agreement he left Salzgitter AG at the end of March to retire. After completing her degree in economics at Leibniz University in Hanover, from 1997 to 1999 Potrafki was in Peking on a DAAD¹ grant where she seized the opportunity to learn Mandarin. Before being appointed by Salzgitter, the 53-year-old worked for the Bosch Group for many years where she was entrusted with various managerial tasks. She was responsible for the global Wiper Systems Business Unit, for example, and was head of the Electrical Drives Division. Potrafki last worked for Robert Bosch GmbH as executive vice-president of Finance and Administration and divisional board member of the Cross-Domain Computing Solutions Division. 

“In Ms. Potrafki we’ve gained a highly accomplished leader for Salzgitter AG,” smiles chairman of the Supervisory Board Heinz-Gerhard Wente. “At a time marked by our new orientation towards the circular economy and transformation of the industry to low-carbon production processes, she will make a major contribution to the successful future alignment of our Group.”

Just a few months before the new appointment the Supervisory Board made another important decision at top management level: at the beginning of December 2023 it extended CEO Gunnar Groebler’s contract until 2029. Groebler joined Salzgitter AG in May 2021 as a member of the Executive Board, taking over as its chairman two months later. 

¹ DAAD = Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst or German Academic Exchange Service, a funding organization for the international exchange of students and researchers.