Czech utility ČEZ to remain under Daniel Beneš as term extended to 2029

Daniel Beneš will continue to lead the semi-state-owned energy group ČEZ. Today, the company’s supervisory board extended the mandate of its chairman and CEO for another four-year term, through 2029. His current term ends at the end of next year. ČTK was told this by ČEZ spokesperson Ladislav Kříž. Beneš has led ČEZ since 2011.

The ČEZ supervisory board has thus decided who will hold the company’s top position more than a year in advance, as it has done in the past. According to the company, it is standard practice at large multinational companies to address senior management appointments well in advance to ensure continuity in the company’s direction. “In the case of the chairman of the board, it is standard for a potential appointment to take place roughly a year before the end of the term. This is all the more important when major projects with an international dimension are also ahead of the company,” Kříž said. He particularly noted the negotiations with KHNP on a contract for new nuclear units at Dukovany.

Beneš, 54, graduated from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the VSB – Technical University of Ostrava and Brno Business School at Nottingham Trent University. From 1993 to 1997, he worked as sales manager at Bohemiacoal, then ran Hedviga Group. From 2000 to 2004, he was head of the Ostrava-based company Tchas’s plant. He joined ČEZ in 2004 as director of procurement. From 2006, he served as director of the Administration Division. From May 2006, he was also vice-chairman of the board, becoming chairman in 2011. As the company’s chief executive, he is currently responsible for the overall management of the group’s activities, strategic development, protecting the group’s interests and representing it in the Czech Republic and the EU.

ČEZ is the largest energy company in the Czech Republic. The state is its majority shareholder, holding around 70 percent of the shares through the Ministry of Finance. Last year, the company recorded a net profit of 29.6 billion crowns, down 63 percent year on year. The main reason was extraordinary taxes and levies, on which the company paid around 40 billion CZK.

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