The Board of Amber Grid, a gas transmission system operator forming part of EPSO-G, a state-owned group of energy transmission and exchange companies, has elected Nemunas Biknius as CEO of the company. Until now, EPSO-G‘s Strategy and Development Director N. Biknius was taking the position temporarily as acting CEO of Amber Grid.
According to Algirdas Juozaponis, Chairman of the Board of Amber Grid, the elected CEO is a competent professional having a good business reputation, capable of inspiring and uniting the employees for the attainment of objectives of a company of strategic importance while adhering to the core values of EPSO-G Group: professionalism, collaboration and progress.
‘We set these three main tasks for the elected CEO: first of all, to ensure stable operations of the entire gas transmission system in current extreme conditions, to timely complete the construction of the Gas Interconnection Poland-Lithuania which is vital for both our country and its neighbours, and to actively resolve issues of the regional gas market integration on the terms that are acceptable to all stakeholders. In the nearest future, it is also very important to achieve the targets set in the green energy and the climate change fighting areas by the National Strategy for Energy Independence through innovative and smart solutions, thus creating value for both the company and the national energy sector as a whole‘, says Algirdas Juozaponis.
17 candidates took part in the public procedure for the recruitment of Amber Grid CEO. The recruitment was implemented according to the internationally-adopted management best practices, with the conditions and qualifications requirements known to the candidates in advance and applied equally to all of them. The Board was assisted in the selection by EPSO-G‘s Remuneration and Appointment Committee which is mainly comprised by independent members, and by Aims International, a global leadership consultancy.
All the candidates for the position were characterised by high management competences and experience in the energy sector and had a record of working with private and state capital entities. At the end of March, by the end of the recruitment process, the Board of Amber Grid held individual interviews with three candidates selected; each of the candidates was afforded the opportunity to present their motivation and competences and to show their strengths. Prior to taking the final decision, the new CEO was subjected to a check in accordance with the Law on Enterprises and Facilities of Strategic Importance for National Security and Other Enterprises of Importance for Ensuring National Security and the Law on the Prevention of Corruption.
‘While retaining the focus on the key priority – the control and maintenance of the gas transmission system, I will seek to achieve that Amber Grid becomes a centre of excellence in energy, a company that relies on its people knowledge and big data of the gas system and makes efficient investments in the system‘s support and security. The gas interconnection with Western Europe – the GIPL will further increase competition among gas suppliers and ensure the security of supply for Lithuania. The task is clear: we must complete the construction by the end of 2021‘, says Nemunas Biknius, the newly elected CEO of Amber Grid.
According to him, gas as a form of energy has undoubtedly good prospects.
‘The system will undergo a transformation, methods of extraction and transportation will change but gas will remain an important part of the energy system. Therefore, being prepared for this transformation is not sufficient – we must be among the first companies applying the green gas technologies thus enabling the development of the market’, says N. Biknius.
Since 2015 N. Biknius worked as EPSO-G‘s Strategy and Development Director. He is the Chairman of the Board of Baltpool and the Board member of Litgrid. After completing Master Studies in Energy and Thermal Engineering at Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, he studied Environmental Management at Aalborg University (Denmark). At present N. Biknius studies MBA General Management at ISM.
