On July 1, 2022, Patrick Barthels will become CEO of the Oqema Group, replacing Peter Overlack, who will continue to serve as co-CEO until October before moving to the Oqema Group's supervisory board as chairman.

"You can't replace me, and we didn't even try," says Peter Overlack, CEO of Oqema AG more jokingly than seriously. "But with Patrick Barthels, a worthy successor who knows the Oqema Group very well is definitely following in my footsteps." His experience and expertise are a good prerequisite for the further growth of the Mönchengladbach-based chemical distribution group, for which he has already played a major role in recent years, Overlack added.

Overlack, who spoke in the CHEManager interview about the 100-year history and the future of the company, will now retire at the age of 65, but will continue to be available for advisory tasks and a few special projects, quite on the sidelines, in the near future - and will move to the Supervisory Board of Oqema AG.

Patrick Barthels joined Oqema in 2016 from Shell Chemicals. He has been part of the Executive Board as CSO since 2020. His future role as Group CEO will continue to have a strong purchasing and sales focus. "I am excited about continuing to actively shape Oqema: With Vision 2027, we are making our way towards an even stronger presence in Europe. We are constantly expanding our portfolio and expertise, and we are very clear that as a distributor we have the task of becoming more sustainable - this is where we have made our mark in the industry in the area of circular economy with our own recycling facilities," emphasizes Patrick Barthels.

After studying economics, combined with process engineering (technically oriented business administration), at the Technical University in Stuttgart, Barthels started his career at the Fraunhofer Institute for Organization in Stuttgart (IAO) and, after holding various positions at the automotive supplier Becker, which was acquired by Johnson Controls in 2001, moved to Shell. There, he was initially Logistics Manager Lubricants Europe, then later a member of the DACH downstream management team and most recently Commercial Manager Solvents Europe/AF/ME in Rotterdam.