EMEA

Evy Hellinckx
Chief Executive Officer, EMEA

Evy Hellinckx holds a Master’s degree in Commercial Engineering from the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. She started her career at Bain & Company where she worked for 10 years focusing on topline growth in B2C and B2B2C industries. She then worked as Strategic Account Manager at Johnson & Johnson Medical, Global Surgery.​

Evy joined Azelis in 2016 as Strategy and Business Development Director, EMEA, and moved to the role of Managing Director for Benelux in September 2021. In 2024, she was appointed CEO EMEA.

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Marnik Tack
Chief Operating Officer, EMEA

Marnik Tack holds a Master’s Degree in Managerial Economics from the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. He has over 20 years of experience in the chemical industry, having worked for various leading international companies in the sector. He began his career as a quality manager in a company specializing in detergents and oleochemicals, later moving on to another specialty distributor where he spent a bigger part of his last year as the Marketing and Industry Director of Benelux. Marnik joined Azelis in 2012 as the Group Principal Manager, and now leads our Homecare & Industrial Cleaning market segment. In 2023, he was appointed COO for the EMEA region.

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Market Segment Directors

Matthew Dickman
Market Segment Director, Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare

Matthew is a Business Management graduate and has worked in the pharmaceutical distribution industry for 15 years. He joined S&D Chemicals in 1998, initially responsible for companies in the pharmaceutical business in the Indian market. His role evolved to focus on growth in Western Europe, Asia Pacific and developing markets. He became a company director in 2006 and oversaw a period of significant growth in these regions. Following the acquisition by Azelis of S&D Chemicals in 2011, he was appointed International Business Manager at Azelis, initially responsible for active ingredients. He became International Business Director in 2013, responsible for steering the future growth and strategy of Azelis Pharma business.

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Frank Bakhuizen
Market Segment Director, CASE

Frank brings over 17 years of sales, marketing and business development experience that he has gained in CASE and adhesives, pharmaceuticals, food and agro. He has worked for some of the major players in the global chemical industry. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Saxion University of Applied Sciences in Enschede, Netherlands and has followed a number of professional courses and trainings throughout his career. 

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Massimo Armada
Massimo Armada
Market Segment Director, Personal Care

Massimo holds a degree in Industrial Chemistry from the University of Milan, Italy. He joined Azelis in 2022, following the acquisition of Eurotrading S.p.A., a leading distributor for personal care ingredients based in Italy, where he was a Board member. Massimo has more than 30 years of experience in the chemical industry, having worked in well-known companies in Italy and Germany, where he held various R&D and business management positions. After the gradual integration of Eurotrading within Azelis, he has taken on the role of Market Segment Director for Personal Care in September 2023.

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Leonardo Tagliente
Market Segment Director Agricultural & Environmental Solutions

Leonardo Tagliente holds a degree in Agricultural Science from Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Italy. With extensive experience working as a sales and export manager, Leonardo joined Azelis in 2016 when Ametech became part of Azelis. After working as the Business Development Manager Agri-Horti, as of January 2021 Leonardo has taken on the role as Market Segment Director Agricultural & Environmental Solutions, EMEA.

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Christian Pflesser
Market Segment Director, Advanced Materials & Additives

Christian Pflesser holds a degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Karlsruhe, Germany and a Ph.D. in Marketing from WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management in Koblenz, Germany. Christian is a native German, and in his free time, he enjoys traveling, cooking and sailing.

Christian comes to us from BASF, where he held a number of senior roles over the years in sales, distribution, project management, business support, strategy development, etc. His last role at BASF was Senior Project Manager Corporate Strategy Implementation and BASF Construction Chemical Carve-out Region EMEA.

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Andrey Zhukov
Market Segment Director, Food & Nutrition

Andrey Zhukov graduated from the Moscow Textile Institute, with a master’s degree in chemistry. He started working in the textile industry and held a number of positions before he joined Cognis Deutchland GmbH, where he gained experience in the Personal and Home Care industry. He also worked as Regional Sales manager for Cargill Flavor Systems and Commercial Director Flavors at Firmench LLC. At Sunfruit LLC, a producer of ingredients and flavors for soft drinks, he was Business Development Director. He joined Azelis as Managing Director of Russia in 2013, and and now leads our Food & Nutrition market segment.

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Serge Yeterian
Market Segment Director, Home Care & Industrial Cleaning

Serge Yeterian holds a degree in Communication Systems Engineering from EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne), Switzerland, and from Eurecom, France. He joined Azelis early 2020, following the acquisition of Orkila, the leading specialty chemical distributor in the Middle East and Africa. After working years at UNCTAD, Serge joined Orkila end of 2009 as Operation Manager for Africa, before moving to Market Segment Director for Life Sciences, and was a member of the board. After the integration of Orkila within Azelis, Serge took on the role of Market Segment Director for Home Care & Industrial Cleaning in January 2024.

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Andrew Johnson
Market Segment Manager, Animal Nutrition

Andrew Johnson has joined Azelis in 2005 as Regional Market Manager. Since 2017, he is the Market Segment Manager for Animal Nutrition in the EMEA region.

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Frédéric Martinez
Market Segment Manager, Electronics

Frédéric Martinez joined Azelis in 2003 and has ever since been the Market Segment Manager for Electronics in EMEA.

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Managing Directors

To be appointed
Managing Director Benelux
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Christophe Sacy
Managing Director MEA

Christophe Sacy has a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Neoma BS and a Master in Asset Management from Dauphine University. After extensive experience working in various investment management roles, Christophe joined the Orkila Group in 2007, the leading specialty chemical distributor in Middle East and Africa. At Orkila Christophe started as Chief Financial Officer, moving to Chief Operating Officer, and was a member of the board. As Orkila became a part of Azelis, Christophe moved to Managing Director of Azelis MEA in early 2020.

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Jakub Matýs
Managing Director Czech Republic

Jakub has a degree in transport, management and logistics marketing and began his career working in Toyota Supply Chain. He then worked in the aerospace and defense industries for Honeywell International before joining Azelis in 2010 as a regional supply chain manager for Central and Eastern Europe. He became Regional Managing Director for Central Europe in 2013 where he is responsible for leading the organization and representing Azelis in the Czech Republic.

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Benoit Fritz
Managing Director France

Benoit Fritz earned a Diplome d'etudes approfondies (DEA) and a License/Maîtrise in organic and bio-organic chemistry from P&M CURIE, Paris VI University. In June 1997, he also conducted a DEA research at Ecole Normale Superieure Paris. He began his career at Safic-Alcan as a technical sales representative and then as an ethylene elastomers champion in France, Spain and Portugal. He worked at DuPont-Dow Elastomers and later at Dow Wire & Cable as Market Manager for EMEA and then as Commercial Director responsible for the Sales organization in EMEA and India. Benoit joined Azelis as Principal Development Director in 2010 and moved into the role of Group Vice President Industrial in April 2013, retaining responsibility for the Chemical Industries business area. He now leads our business in France as Regional Managing Director.

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Apostolos Moustos
Managing Director Greece and Balkans

Apostolos Moustos holds a BSC and MSC in chemical engineering from the National Technical University of Athens. He began his career in technical sales holding a number of positions with companies including Rhone Poulenc Hellas and Rhodia Hellas before joining Arnaud Hellas, first as Sales Manager and then becoming Commercial Director. When Arnaud Hellas was rebranded as Azelis, he became Country Manager for Greece and then Regional Business Manager for the East Mediterranean region. In 2012, he was appointed Commercial Director for Azelis in Greece and then for the Balkan countries. He was appointed Regional Managing Director, Balkans in 2013.

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Javier Pérez
Managing Director Iberia

Javier Perez graduated in Chemistry from Barcelona University, Spain and began his career with Impex Quimica, S.A. as Sales Manager in Pharma, later holding different positions in the same organization as Product Manager and Business Development Manager. In 2007 Javier took on the role of Business Manager of the Pharma division being responsible for the business of APIs for Human and Veterinary and Excipients. In 2009 he took responsibility for Pharma in the IBIT Region and in June 2012 was appointed Managing Director of Azelis Iberia.

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Dr. Uwe Zakrzewski
Managing Director DACH region

Dr. Uwe Zakrzewski holds a degree in Chemistry from the University of Essen, Germany, and PhD from the University of Bochum, Germany. He brings to Azelis almost 30 years of in-depth marketing and sales experience in specialty chemicals, out of which 20 years in senior management. Uwe worked in various industrial markets: paints & coatings, adhesives, plastics, rubber, lubricants, paper, sports surfaces, and cables. He started his career as a Research Chemist, became Head of Marketing for a renowned manufacturer, and was then promoted to Managing Director in the specialty chemical industry. This was followed by high management roles in renowned German-based suppliers. Uwe joined Azelis as Managing Director DACH in April 2023.

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Marco Gerosa
Managing Director Italy

Marco Gerosa was born in Monza near Milan and earned a Diploma in Mechanics before pursuing a career in the chemical industry. He worked for 10 years at Hoechst Italy in R&D and sales in the Masterbatches division and for seven years in sales at Clariant. Marco joined Novorchem in 1999 (which then became Azelis in 2003). In 2008 Marco took on the role of International Business Director for Materials, Pigments and Additives (MPA) and in 2012, he moved to Managing Director of Azelis Italy.

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Burcu Gezegen Özdemir
Managing Director Türkiye

Burcu Gezegen has more than 15 years of experience in the chemical industry, and holds a Master's degree in International Relations and Affairs. Since joining Azelis in 2011, at the time of Azelis' entrance to the Turkish market, Burcu has contributed to the growth of the group through different roles, being previously Head of Industrial Chemicals. Since 2022, she is Managing Director for Türkiye.

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Salim Raiss
Managing Director Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia

Salim Raiss holds a Bachelor degree in Agronomy from ETSIA, Spain, as well as a Food Industry Engineer degree from ENSAIA in France. He began his career in 2006 at a leading dairy producer in Morocco, first as Project Manager followed by Senior Manager and later Department Director at the Research & Development department. Prior to joining Azelis, Raiss held the position as Sales Manager at a premier specialty food ingredient and food safety leader. In 2016, Raiss joined Azelis as Managing Director, Morocco. His international and technical background is a great asset for the development of Azelis' new structure in Morocco.

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Gert Schnoor
Managing Director Nordics

Gert graduated in Chemical Engineering at DTU (Danmarks Tekniske Universitet) and has more than 29 years of experience in the food industry. He first worked for Danish companies like Rode & Rode, Sveda Kemi and Btb Biokemi, specialized in food ingredients. In 1995, he furthered his career with LCH A/S, a Danish company offering functional ingredients and own blends to the Danish food, health and pharmaceutical industries. At LCH he started off as Sales Director and, four years later, he became owner of the company.

After the acquisition of LCH by the Azelis group, in June 2017, Gert took up the responsibility for the development of the Nordic and Baltic regions at Azelis.

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Renata Bugiel
Managing Director Poland

Renata Bugiel earned her Master’s degree from the Silesian School of Management and Foreign Languages in Katowice, Poland. She started her career 20 years ago as a sales assistant for a distributor of raw materials for Coatings, later becoming a sales manager when the company was bought by the Arnaud Group.

Before joining Azelis, she also worked for Troy Chemical Company, a manufacturer of biocides and additives, helping with setting up their affiliate in Poland as a sales and marketing manager. In 2007 she joined Azelis as Business Manager for Coatings, and in March 2016 she took over the position of Principal Manager for Imerys PCC business in CEE and Turkey for CASE, Food&Health and Pharma. Renata was appointed Managing Director Poland in October 2017.

Renata is married with two children, and in her free time enjoys music, playing instruments and fitness.

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Elena Klimenko
Country Manager Ukraine

Elena Klimenko earned her degree at the Kiev State University. She started her carrier in 1993 at the Centre of Toxicology, Hygiene of Food & Tobacco Goods at the Ministry of Health in Ukraine, where she worked as a chemist. Since then, she has assumed numerous crucial positions among the ranks of various internationally renowned players, from being a QA Manager of Coca-Cola Amatil to Product Manager and later Commercial Director of a B2B chemical distribution business Bang and Bonsomer, leading the Group to achieving its highest financial and sales goals. Before joining Azelis, she worked for DS Smith as a Sales Director. Elena joined the chemical distribution industry in 2016 as Commercial Director of Azelis Ukraine until she was appointed Managing Director of Azelis Ukraine in September 2017. Elena holds both PhD and MBA degrees, among numerous other awards and certificates.

Charles Hawley
Managing Director UK and Ireland

Charles Hawley studied Chemistry at Oxford University and is a qualified Management Accountant. He held various positions during his 15 years of experience at WhitChem, being Finance Director responsible for Operations, Compliance and IT, then Managing Director at the moment of the acquisition. Charles was appointed Managing Director for the UK & Ireland in 2022. In this capacity he has responsibility for financial performance and ensuring that the regional organisation provides excellent service to its principals and customers. 

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Dmitriy Tarasov
Managing Director Russia

Dmitriy joined Azelis in November 2013 and has since held positions of Business Development Manager Industrial Chemicals and Commercial Director. Dmitriy brought almost 20 years of experience to Azelis, spanning over personal care and coatings markets. He started his career first as a General Director and later a Sales Director for a Russian subsidiary of a personal care distributor. He then went on to spend ten years as a Marketing and Sales Director for a major Russian mineral filler and pigment producer for paints & coatings, pulp & paper, plastics, rubber, ceramics, food & cosmetic applications. For a short period before joining Azelis, Dmitriy was a Deputy General Director for a trading company. Dmitriy holds a masters degree in International Business that he obtained at the Russian State University of Economics in Moscow. 

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Georgi Kashkavaldzhiev
Country Manager Bulgaria

Georgi Kashkavaldzhiev earned a Master in Chemical Engineering from the University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy in Sofia. With vast experience working in industrial and specialty chemicals, Georgi joined Azelis as Country Manager Bulgaria in July 2013.

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Robert Mileković
Country Manager Croatia

Robert Mileković has a Master of Science in Food Technology from the University of Zagreb in Croatia. Robert joined Azelis in 2015 with extensive experience in specialty chemical sales and has worked in numerous positions within Azelis including Sales Manager, Market Manager Life Sciences, Commercial Manager and most recently, Country Manager for Croatia.

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József Fehér
Country Manager Hungary

Jozsef always felt passion for chemistry and science that motivated him to earn MSc in Organic and Pharmaceutical Chemistry and PhD in Physical Chemistry at the Technical University of Budapest. He spent 2 years in R&D on measurement automation at Tohoku University in Japan as guest researcher and did a deep-dive into the world of chemical distribution, building up business from scratch after returning to Hungary in 2006.

 

Jozsef joined Azelis Hungary (formerly Arnaud) in 2007 as Technical Sales Manager Industrial and he was appointed to Country Manager in 2008. Jozsef is married with a teenage son, and in his free time enjoys weight training, cubing and crazyhouse chess.

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Graeme Locke
Country Manager Ireland

After completing his Bachelor of Science in Food Technology at the University of Humberside, Graeme worked for a number of years in different positions in the Food Ingredients Industry before joining P-K Chemicals in 1999. Graeme worked for 18 years as Technical Sales Manager of P-K Chemicals, becoming the General Manager in 2017. In September 2018, Graeme became the Country Manager of Azelis Ireland as P-K became part of Azelis.

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Florentina Neicu
Country Manager Romania

Florentina Neicu earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering and Microelectronics from the University Politechnica of Bucharest, and a Master’s Degree in International Business and Economics from the Academy of Economic Studies Bucharest. After working as an Engineer and in Marketing, Florentina joined Azelis Romania (formerly Arnaud Romania) as a Sales Assistant Pharma in 2000. Since then, Florentina has held numerous roles including: Sales Manager Fine Chemicals, Market Manager Food & Health, and most recently, Country Manager of Romania.

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Dubravka Mirkovic
Country Manager Serbia

Dubravka Mirkovic holds a Master’s Degree in Marketing Management from the University of Belgrade. After experience working in sales and as Managing Director for Finkochem, Dubravka joined Azelis in early 2011 when Finkochem became part of Azelis.

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