Marcel. Pawlicek renounces VR mandate

Marcel Pawlicek worked for the world’s largest manufacturer of reciprocating compressors, Burckhardt Compression, for over 40 years. After stepping down as CEO, the manager wanted to bring his wealth of experience to the board of directors. But now there are new tasks in export promotion and with SMEs.

Manufacturing the components of a piston compressor is precision work. Gas is compressed with such machines.

PD

Sometimes you have to leave a place of work to find out how many other exciting fields of activity there are. The former boss of the Winterthur industrial group Burckhardt Compression, Marcel Pawlicek, went through a career that is becoming increasingly rare. The 59-year-old remained loyal to Burkhardt for over forty years – and worked his way up from an apprentice draftsman to CEO at the world’s largest manufacturer of piston compressors.

Already on the Board of Directors of Switzerland Global Enterprise

In view of so much loyalty to the company, it seemed logical that Pawlicek, when announcing his resignation as CEO in early September 2021, declared that he wanted to run for the board of directors. Almost a year later, the manager, who left his post at Burckhardt on March 31, 2022 and handed it over to Fabrice Billard, changed his mind. He renounced the candidacy that he planned for the upcoming General Assembly in the summer of 2023.

Pawlicek has now been elected to the board of directors of the semi-governmental organization Switzerland Global Enterprise (formerly Osec), which is primarily active in export promotion. The body is chaired by former Federal Councilor Ruth Metzler-Arnold. In addition, Pawlicek is a member of the Board of Directors and Advisory Board of several Swiss SMEs that are primarily active in the energy sector.

Marcel Pawlicek, former CEO of Burckhardt Compression

Marcel Pawlicek, former CEO of Burckhardt Compression

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The withdrawal came as a surprise to his previous employer. Meanwhile, Burckhardt Compression explained in a short communiquéthat the decision is understandable “due to the current obligations and the number of mandates” that Pawlicek has accepted in the meantime. According to a company spokeswoman, there were no objections from proxy advisors or shareholders to the former CEO’s candidacy for the board of directors. Pawlicek also made it a priority to give his successor enough time to establish himself independently.

The fact that CEOs are elected to the board of directors immediately after they have given up their post is a frequent occurrence at Swiss companies. The pharmaceutical company Roche recently gave a speech in this regard. As it became known in July, the long-time CEO Severin Schwan is to seamlessly move up to the presidency of the board of directors in March 2023 after his resignation as CEO.

From the point of view of good corporate governance, this is considered to be particularly problematic. If a previous CEO takes over the presidency, the new CEO reports directly to the predecessor. Corporate governance experts doubt whether the new management will have enough room for maneuver in such a constellation.

Pawlicek had opted for a more acceptable middle ground. He not only opted for a one-year cooling-off period after stepping down as CEO, but also made it clear from the start that the presidency was out of the question for him. He now confirmed this on request and said that with Ton Büchner Burckhardt has a strong personality as Chairman of the Board of Directors. The former head of Burckhardt’s former sister company, Sulzer, and former head of the Dutch chemical group AkzoNobel, has been in office since July 2020.

Still free capacities

Pawlicek could have brought a wealth of experience to the board thanks to his decades of leadership at the company, including 11 years as CEO. Although he is not yet at 100 percent capacity, he has decided to concentrate on commitments outside of Burckhardt Compression. “You have to be able to let go,” he says.

Pawlicek has been President of the Chamber of Commerce for Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Southern Caucasus JCC since the beginning of 2015. The organization promotes close economic relations between Switzerland and countries in the sphere of influence of the former Soviet Union. Russia and Ukraine are among the dozen or so countries it covers. When asked about the war between the two countries and its influence on the business of Swiss companies, Pawlicek does not want to comment. In principle, no information is given on political issues.

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