Kjell Arve Kure has been appointed new Managing Director of Norske Skog Saugbrugs

Kjell Arve Kure (45) has today been appointed new Managing Director of Norske Skog Saugbrugs AS. Kure has solid leadership and industry experience from various positions within Norske Skog for the past 15 years.

Kure has been employed by Norske Skog Saugbrugs since 2003. He has been Production Director at the plant since 2011. At Saugbrugs, he has also been head of process and development, (2003-04), Production Manager Pulp, Energy & Effluent treatment (2004-08) and Production Manager Mechanical Pulp and PM6 (2008-11). He was employed has head of Norske Skog Research (1999-2003), and as Research Scientist at the Pulp and Paper Research Institute (PFI) in Trondheim.

- We are very pleased to have appointed Kjell Arve Kure as new Managing Director at Norske Skog Saugbrugs. His extensive industry expertise and management experience will be a great contribution to the further development of Norske Skog Saugbrugs. The challenge ahead will be to improve the profitability of Saugbrugs, develop and streamline production processes, and adapt the business to sharp future competition, says CEO of Norske Skog and Chairman of Norske Skog Saugbrugs AS, Sven Ombudstvedt.

- My career to date at Saugbrugs has given me technological challenges and broad expertise about Saugbrugs and the paper industry. Despite challenging markets, efforts will be made towards improving profitability for the company. In collaboration with many talented people at Saugbrugs, I am sure we will succeed in the future, global competition, says Kjell Arve Kure, Managing Director at Norske Skog Saugbrugs.

Kjell Arve Kure has a PhD in Chemical Engineering from NTNU (Trondheim, Norway) with emphasis on how to develop fibres for wood containing printing grades in an energy efficient way. In addition, he has a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the Norwegian School of Economics (Bergen, Norway), Master in Chemistry from the University of British Colombia (Vancouver, Canada), and Master of Science from UMB (Ås, Norway).

Roy Vardheim resigns

Roy Vardheim resigns today as CEO after nearly three years in office. Roy came to Norske Skog after a long international career, previously being employed in a number of senior positions at Borealis (Norway).

- We have agreed with Roy to step down as Managing Director at Saugbrugs. Roy has carried through important processes at Saugbrugs, as the start-up of a new pulp line with significant reductions in energy consumption and variable costs, and initiation of research for development of microfibrillated cellulose, says Ombudstvedt.

- I have worked with a variety of challenging structural processes and development activities in recent years. It has been instructive. Unfortunately, the results are not in congruence with the efforts made. Falling demand combined with excess market capacity, has made cost cuts diluted by falling prices. I want to thank the many talented employees at Saugbrugs for cooperation, and am sure I will benefit from the experience at Saugbrugs in my future endeavours, says Roy Vardheim.

A picture of Kjell Arve Kure is available on twitter: @Norske_Skog

Oslo, 17 November 2014

Norske Skog
Communications and Public Affairs