European small-scale LNG player Molgas, backed by French infrastructure fund investor InfraVia, revealed a series of appointments in its leadership team.
According to a statement, Fernando Sarasola took over the role of executive chairman of the company’s board.
Sarasola has been at the helm of Molgas as CEO since 2008.
As executive chairman, he will continue to steward the group’s strategy, and ensure continuity in execution, the statement said.
In parallel, Sarasola will focus his executive time on growing a new project with InfraVia, developing “significant” capacity on upstream biomethane production across Europe with a starting base in Spain, Norway, and Greece.
Back in 2020, InfraVia acquired Molgas in a deal worth about 120 million euros ($130 million).
After that, the Madrid-based group completed a deal with LNG giant Shell to buy Norway’s Gasnor in 2021 and also acquired a controlling stake last year in Greece’s Blue Grid.
Speaking of Blue Grid, the founder and CEO of of the Athens-based firm, Sofoklis Papanikolaou, has now been appointed as CEO of Molgas and will also join the board of directors of the company, the statement said.
“His mandate from the board includes the objective to develop the company into a fully-fledged LNG and renewable gases logistics and supply company, servicing the industrial, mobility, and marine bunkering sectors,” it said.
Papanikolaou joins an “established and very experienced management team” at Molgas, including COO Juan Menchero, who will broaden his operational responsibilities and will join the board of directors of the company as part of the new appointments, his operational remit, Esperanza Sanchez (CFO), and Javier Romeo Montes (legal counsel).
The leadership changes will officially take effect on December 1.