By David Reed, UT EditorLudwigshafen, Germany-Dr Reinhard Leppkes, has been appointed as group vice president of BASF AG's global business unit chemicals for coatings, plastics and specialities, based in Ludwigshafen, Germany. He replaces Dr Gerd Löbbert who moves to being group vice president, of BASF's regional business unit cracker products & industrial gases Europe, where he replaces Dr Jürgen Hartig who is due to retire as of 30 Sep. 2005.Leppkes was previously one of the two managing directors of BASF's Elastogran GmbH polyurethane systems business and group vice president regional business unit (RBU) polyurethanes Europe, based in Lemförde, in northern Germany, and will take up his new post as of 1 Oct. Dr Helmut Rödder, the other managing director (spokesperson) for Elastogran remains in post.Leppkes' successor in the Elastogran and RBU roles will be Dr Uwe Hartwig who is currently responsible for the global marketing co-ordination of BASF Polyurethanes in Brussels. Hartwig is already familiar with both Elastogran and the field of polyurethanes, a statement from BASF said, pointing out that his previous posts in the company included being head of Elastogran-Schwarzheide, head of development soft foam, and European head of marketing/sales automobile polyurethanes."
