Pekka Tennilä appointed as the new CEO of Neova and Markus Tykkyläinen as the deputy CEO of Neova
The board of Neova Oy has today appointed Pekka Tennilä, M.Sc., as CEO of Neova Oy from 4 December 2023. At the same time, he has been appointed CEO of Kekkilä-BVB, a subsidiary of Neova Oy. The board of Neova Oy has agreed with Vesa Tempakka that he will continue as CEO until then. Additionally, the board of Neova Oy has today appointed Markus Tykkyläinen, DI, M.Sc., eMBA, as deputy CEO of Neova Oy and a member of the Group Management team of Neova Oy. Tykkyläinen will start working for the company latest by June 1, 2024.
Pekka Tennilä focuses especially on the management and development of Kekkilä-BVB’s business. Pekka Tennilä served as CEO of the alcoholic beverage company Anora from 2014 to 2023. During Tennilä’s tenure, Altia and Norwegian Arcus merged, forming Anora, a company listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. Before Altia, Tennilä held numerous key positions at the brewing company Carlsberg.
Markus Tykkyläinen is responsible for the management and development of the other businesses of the Neova Group. Currently, Markus Tykkyläinen works as the CEO of Suur-Savon Sähkö Oy. Tykkyläinen has served as Suur-Savon Sähkö Oy’s CEO since 2016 and before that, e.g. as the managing director of Napapiirin Vesi ja Energia Oy and in various positions at E.ON and Vakka-Suomen Voima Oy. Tykkyläinen’s area of responsibility in Neova’s new organization is to be responsible, as Deputy CEO, for businesses outside of Kekkilä-BVB, i.e. peat production, fuels, real estate development, activated carbon production and Neova Oy’s innovation activities. Tykkyläinen will join Neova in the spring of 2024. Tykkyläinen has been a member of the board of Neova Oy since 2016.
According to Panu Routila, chairman of the board of Neova Oy, the transformation of the Neova Group from an energy company into an international growing media company and a manufacturer of new high-value-added products, and to increase the value of land assets with wind and solar power projects is nearing its end. “The board is grateful for the significant and successful strategy change during Vesa Tempakka’s leadership. Now is the right time to move to the next stage and allocate management resources according to the special needs of both business areas,” says Routila.
“Pekka Tennilä is an experienced CEO with a strong track record of corporate transformations. The development of Neova to its full potential continues and the board is confident that under Pekka’s leadership, Neova will continue to be a pioneer in its field,” says Panu Routila, chairman of the board of Neova Oy. “I also warmly welcome Markus Tykkyläinen to Neova’s operational business. He has the kind of wide-ranging experience that Neova needs in this changing situation, and he also knows Neova’s business very well thanks to his long period of working on the board,” says Panu Routila.
“I am excited to take over the management of Neova in this significant phase of change for the company. As we have previously communicated, improving profitability is an integral part of the company’s strategy to create green growth. We are building our next phase of growth and development on a strong foundation and a clear vision. Kekkilä-BVB is already Europe’s leading company in the international growing media markets. The company has operations in more than ten countries and its products are exported and used in more than hundred countries around the world. We have a competent team and strong customer-oriented businesses, so the goal is only to strengthen our leading position”, says Pekka Tennilä.
“I have known Neova for twenty-five years as a customer, and for the last seven years as a member of the Neova board. I am excited about the opportunity to make my own contribution to building Neova’s future. Neova is a unique combination of vibrant traditional business operations critical to the security of supply and world-class innovation activities, which has already led to new commercial high-value-added products,” says Markus Tykkyläinen.
“Furthermore, I would like to thank our outgoing CEO Vesa Tempakka for his leadership and work in developing Neova at a time when major changes have taken place in the company’s operating environment”, Panu Routila says.
“My years at Neova have been very interesting and challenging. The transformation from energy peat to Europe’s leading growing media company, a producer of activated carbon and other high value-added products, and a developer of wind and solar power has been great and it is now time to step aside. Neova has a great future ahead of it, as all its businesses are based on sustainably securing food and energy security. I would like to thank all my colleagues, customers and partners at Neova for their good cooperation and trust over the past years,” says Vesa Tempakka.
Neova Oy
Board of Directors
More information:
Panu Routila, Chairman of the Board, tel. +358 40 503 6757
Ahti Martikainen, Director, Communications and Public Affairs, tel. +358 40 680 4723