• The experienced sales specialist joins SEFE on 1 July 2024
• Professional career strongly shaped by WINGAS
• Matthias Peter to leave the company after more than 25 years

Hamead Ahrary will join SEFE Securing Energy for Europe on 1 July 2024 and will succeed Matthias Peter as the new Chief Sales Officer (CSO) of SEFE and Managing Director of WINGAS effective 1 August. Ahrary, a veteran sales specialist whose professional career has been strongly shaped by his work for WINGAS, will have overall responsibility for SEFE’s sales activities starting in summer 2024. In addition, he will be responsible for WINGAS at the Kassel site together with Co-Managing Director Alexander Demidov. Matthias Peter will be leaving the company after more than 25 years.

After studying energy economics and marketing at the University of Essen, Ahrary worked as a Key Account Manager and Sales Manager at WINGAS for five years. Then, after being responsible for global gas purchasing for the BASF Group for several years, Ahrary returned to WINGAS, initially serving as Head of Sales & Business Development for several European countries. In this role, he was instrumental in building up the Central European business and eventually took over the management of WINGAS' European activities. Most recently, Ahrary was Managing Director of the Austrian company VERBUND Green Hydrogen GmbH, where he was responsible for the entire hydrogen activities of VERBUND AG.

“In Hamead Ahrary, we are securing a proven expert in the European energy industry,” said Reinhard Gorenflos, Chairman of the SEFE Supervisory Board, explaining the appointment of the new CSO. “His expertise is based on many years of experience in the international natural gas markets, in marketing and sales, in procurement and in business building – not only in the natural gas sector, but also in the hydrogen economy.”

“Hamead Ahrary joining as CSO will be an important addition to our Management Board following the planned departure of Matthias Peter in the summer,” said SEFE CEO Dr Egbert Laege, welcoming his future colleague to the Management Board. “He brings with him all the skills needed for our core tasks of securing energy supplies for Germany and Europe and driving forward the green energy transition.”

“I am a strong believer in SEFE’s integrated business model as an independent midstream company, so I am very much looking forward my tasks at my new – old – workplace,” Ahrary said. “With our dedicated teams and acting in the best interests of our current and future customers, we are determined to make our contribution to the sustainable and solid transformation of the energy landscape.”

Hamead Ahrary is married and has three children.

Matthias Peter to leave the company after more than 25 years

Matthias Peter, a proven industry expert, is leaving SEFE and retiring. His impressive career spans 25 years at SEFE, during which he has played a key role in operational sales for WINGAS. Of particular note has been his dedication to SEFE’s integrated business model. With his extensive sales expertise, Peter has actively driven SEFE’s sales efforts in Kassel and worldwide in recent years.

“Matthias Peter has had a major influence on the fact that SEFE has guaranteed energy supplies, especially for municipal and industrial customers, since early summer 2022,” said SEFE Supervisory Board Chairman Gorenflos, bidding farewell to the CSO who will be departing in summer 2024. “We owe him a debt of gratitude and wish him all the best for the next stage of his life.”

“Matthias has always been a valuable adviser and proven expert in the energy sector, and from the very beginning he has resolutely supported the transformation process towards a midstream company with an integrated business model,” added SEFE CEO Laege. “He has shaped today’s SEFE and will no doubt follow our future path closely. We will miss him as both a colleague and a person.”

About SEFE

As an integrated midstream energy company headquartered in Berlin, SEFE Securing Energy for Europe ensures the security of energy supply in Germany and Europe and drives the green energy transformation. SEFE is active in trading & portfolio management, sales, transportation, and storage of energy and has its strongest presence in Germany and the UK. SEFE employs around 1,500 people and supplies over 50,000 customers, in particular industrial customers, and municipal utilities in Germany and seven other European markets. With a sales volume of around 200 TWh of power and gas, SEFE plays a central role in the stability of the energy supply in Germany and Europe. SEFE is owned by the Federal Government of Germany.