ECTA ANNUAL MEETING 2024

Dirk Stahl:

Dirk Stahl has been CEO of BLS Cargo AG since 2001 and Deputy Chairman since 2010 of the Executive Board of BLS AG.
BLS Cargo AG is one of the leading rail freight transport companies on the Rhine Alpine Corridor, strong in intermodal transport. Before joining BLS and BLS Cargo, Dirk Stahl held various management positions at Deutsche Bahn in freight transport (now DB Cargo).
He studied at the University of Münster (D) a degree in economics and a doctorate.
Dirk Stahl has also been President of the “European Rail Freight Association (ERFA)” since 2019, the Association of European Competition Railways in Brussels, which campaigns for fair competitive conditions and good framework conditions in rail freight transport.

Joost Naessens:

Joost Naessens is Transport & Logistics Director at Cefic, the European Chemical industry Council, in Brussels since 2019. 
In this role, he is advocating for the chemical sector at the European authorities and giving guidance to Cefic’s members in the areas of transport & logistics safety, sustainability and digitalization. He holds a master’s degree in chemical engineering and has more than 25 years of experience in project management, production and supply chain management, transport and site logistics management at BASF Antwerp (Belgium).

GARCIA DE SANDOVAL Aurora:

Aurora García de Sandoval, is a Policy Officer at the Directorate General for Mobility and Transport in the European Commission, in charge of the Weights and Dimensions Directive since 2020. She is a lawyer and a Road Transport Technician with more than 20 years of experience in the road transport public sector, working for the Directorate General for Traffic in Spain. She is currently seconded as national expert to the European Commission.

Maria Koidu:

Maria Koidu is working in European Commission since 2007. Since 2014, she has been working on transport policy in the Directorate General for Transport and Mobility focusing on multi- and intermodal freight transport. In 2018, Ms Koidu was temporarily working for the Council of EU Estonian Presidency chairing three Council working groups. Between 2007 and 2014 Ms Koidu worked in DG Trade as EU trade negotiator in the area of trade in services, including transport services.
Before joining the European Commission, Ms Koidu worked for 10 years in different positions in the Ministry of Economic Affairs of Estonia as head of Division for economic and transport policy, head of Division for trade policy, negotiator for Estonia’s accession to EU and WTO.
Ms Koidu has also throughout the years been teaching economics, EU law in different Estonian universities. 
Ms Koidu has studied economics, international trade and business administration and chemical engineering. 

Heiko Krebs: 

Heiko Krebs was born in Rostock in 1966. After training as a Betriebseisenbahner, he studied at the Hochschule für Verkehrswesen in Dresden from 1986 to 1991. He graduated with a degree in transport engineering and logistics. Heiko Krebs has been working for Kombiverkehr KG since 1991, initially as an employee in terminal operations until 1996, when he was made head of the production department. During his time at Kombiverkehr, Heiko Krebs took on the position of Managing Director at several subsidiaries, such as Kombiverkehr Intermodal Services AG in Basel and Rostock Trimodal GmbH. Since April 2023, he has been Managing Director of Kombiverkehr KG and is responsible for operations, network management, IT, human resources and shareholdings.

Rob Wattelé:

Rob Wattelé holds both a degree as Master in Chemical Engineering (2006) and Advanced Master in Maritime Sciences (2007). After graduation he started working at a chemical site of Solvay in Antwerp, which was later acquired by INEOS. During his 17 years on the site, he held numerous operational positions incl. the role as Site Operations Manager. In 2024 he joined Port of Antwerp-Bruges as Sector Manager Chemicals. His focus is strongly on facilitating and stimulating the chemical industry in the region in all its aspects.

Romain Mouton:

Romain Mouton is a vehicle architect with an automotive engineering degree. He began his career working on heavy-duty and military vehicle dynamics, fine-tuning suspension and chassis design to enhance vehicle performance and lower total cost of ownership. He then moved to powertrain engineering, focusing on fuel consumption optimization using aftermarket solutions and operational changes. Currently, Romain works at the IRU, where he combines his engineering skills and deep understanding of industry metrics to explore decarbonization pathways for trucks and buses.

Dr. Talebi Amiri

Dr. Talebi Amiri holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, where he worked on the production of biofuels from renewable sources. Since 2016, he has been involved in developing products for cleantech startups. His latest venture, Qaptis, focuses on CO2 capture solutions for hard-to-decarbonize industries.

Jan Arnet:

Jan Arnet has served as Chief Executive Officer of the Bertschi Group since August 2018. He has been working at Bertschi since 2004, holding several managerial positions.
Before joining Bertschi, Jan held the positions of CFO and Deputy CEO and several positions within Customer Relationship Management. 
holds a Master’s degree in Corporate Finance and completed an Asian International Executive Program at INSEAD in Singapore. Since 2019 he has been member of the EPCA Supply Chain Program Committee.

more speaker details to follow