Appointments to Wärtsilä’s Board Of Management

9 February 2006, The following appointments have been made in Wärtsilä Corporation’s Board of Management with effect from 1 April 2006:

Jaakko Eskola (47) MSc (Eng.) has been appointed Group Vice President, Ship Power and a member of the Board of Management. Mr Eskola joined Wärtsilä in 1998 as Managing Director of Wärtsilä Development and Financial Services Oy. Before taking up this position he worked since 1986 in project financing positions for Kansallis-Osake-Pankki and Merita Bank in Luxemburg, London and Helsinki, and in 1997-1998 for PCA Corporate Finance Group Oy. Jaakko Eskola is currently Vice President, Sales and Marketing for the Power Plants business in Wärtsilä.

Executive Vice President Mikael Mäkinen, who currently heads the Ship Power business, leaves Wärtsilä to join another company on 1 April 2006.

Christoph Vitzthum (36) MSc (Econ.) has been appointed Group Vice President, Power Plants and a member of the Board of Management. Mr Vitzthum started with Wärtsilä as a foreign exchange dealer in 1995. He has since held financial controller positions in both Power Plants and Ship Power units in Strasbourg, Zürich and Helsinki. Since 2002 Christoph Vitzthum has been Managing Director of Wärtsilä Propulsion, based in Havant, Great Britain.

Pekka Ahlqvist MSc (Eng.) MBA, currently Group Vice President, Power Plants, reaches 60 years of age in spring 2006 and is then entitled to retire under the terms of his employment contract. He will continue to be employed by the company with responsibility for supervising the Wärtsilä companies specializing in automation products and services and for strategic management of Wärtsilä’s automation activities, reporting in this position to Tage Blomberg, Group Vice President, Service.

Matti Kleimola, Prof. CTO, Group Vice President, Technology and Environment, retires on 1 May 2006 having reached the retirement age stipulated in his employment contract. Although retired, Professor Kleimola will continue to act as an advisor to the Board of Management in matters related to Wärtsilä’s field of technology.


For further information, please call Mr Ole Johansson, President & CEO, tel. +358 10 709 5601.

Contact Information

Ms Eeva Kainulainen

Vice President, Corporate Communications

Wärtsilä Corporation

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