Board of Directors

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer: 

D. Alexander Artetxe Panera. Electrical and Electronics Engineer. Masters degree in Control Processes and Systems Engineering. He has been with Arteche for more than 25 years and has deep knowledge of the electrical sector. In addition, he has been part of other companies such as Andersen Consulting and Ingenor. 

During his career at Arteche, he led (from Mexico) the establishment of Arteche in North America and later developed the international growth of the Group in America and Asia. He also participated in the expansion of the portfolio of products and solutions, promoting technological innovation in the Group with the creation of the Arteche Technology Centre, from which different collaboration synergies have arisen in partnership with customers in different countries. He is currently a director of APD (Association for the Progress of Management) Zona Norte and a member of the Basque Council for Science, Technology and Innovation. 

Member of the board - Executive  

ZISKUA BER, S.L., represented by D. Lander Arteche Eguia, graduate in Law of the University of Deusto, he joined the Arteche Group in 1997. Prior to joining Arteche, 24 years ago, he worked in the tax area of Coopers & Lybrand (now PwC), as well as in the risk area of Argentaria (BEX America) in New York, for all the subsidiaries of Banco Exterior de España (BEX) in North and South America. 

Within the Arteche Group, he works closely with the legal, financial and management control areas, both for the main companies and for the consolidated Group, where he was CFO until 2011, when he transfered to Brazil. During his 4-year stay in Brazil, he was in charge of Arteche's operations throughout South America. He is currently Vice-President of the Biscayan Federation of Metal Companies and Director of CEBEK. 

Member of the board - Proprietary

D. Dámaso Quintana Pradera. Electrical Engineer and MBA from IESE. He is CEO and Director in several industrial companies related to metal and electrical equipment manufacturing with global presence in Europe, America and Asia. Chairman of the Board and CEO of Cunext Group since 2014 and Chairman and Founder of Haizea Wind Group, a company working in the wind energy sector. In addition, he is and has been a member of different Boards of Directors of other industrial companies in Europe and the USA.

Member of the board - Proprietary

D. Pablo Ramallo Taboada.  Law Degree from the University of Navarra (1997) and Notary Public since 2002, practicing in Madrid since 2009. PDG Degree from IESE (2009) and PhD in Government and Public Administration, by the Complutense University of Madrid (2017). He has held different responsibilities in Corporacion Cunext Industries, S.L. since 2014. 

Member of the board - Other external 

D. José María Abril Pérez. Degree in Economics from the University of Deusto and lecturer for 9 years at the University of Deusto. Executive with 45 years of experience in the financial sector. In 1985 he joined Banco Bilbao as Investment Director of Corporate Banking, and later as Executive Coordinator of Banco Español de Crédito and General Manager of the Industrial Group. In 1999, he was appointed to the BBV Management Committee. In 2002 he was appointed General Manager of Wholesale and Investment Banking and a member of the BBVA Steering Committee. Before joining BBVA, he held the position of Chief Financial Officer at Sociedad Anónima de Alimentación (SAAL) and Sancel Scott. 

He’s been a member of the Board of Directors of Telefónica, S.A. since 2007, and Vice-Chairman of the Board since 2011. He has also been a director of other companies such as Repsol, Iberia and Corporación IBV, and Vice-Chairman of Bolsas y Mercados Españoles. 

Member of the board - Proprietary

GESTIÓN DE CAPITAL RIESGO DEL PAÍS VASCO SGEIIC, S.A., represented by  D. Zigor Urkiaga Urkiza. Graduated in Law and diploma in Economic Studies from the University of Deusto (Bilbao), European Financial Planner (nº 11035). Presiden of the Risk Capital Management Company of the Basque Country, SGEIC, S.A., Director of Strategic Projects and Industrial Administration of the Basque Governement since 2020, previously he was responsible for Discretionary Portfolio Management, the Network of Agents and of the application of the Directive European Union on Markets and Financial Instruments (MIFID) at Bankoa Crédit Agricole. 20 years of experience in the financial sector, he has been an economic analyst in different media.

Member of the board - Independent

D. Guillermo Ulacia Arnáiz. Degree in Computer Science from the University of Deusto. With more than 30 years of experience in management positions, his professional career has been developed in the automotive, steel, renewable energies and new technologies sectors. 

He is currently the President of FEMETAL, the Federation of Metal and Related Industries of the Principality of Asturias and Vice President of the Energy Transition Commission of CEOE, where he has led the preparation of the reports on Energy and Competitiveness, Proposals of the business sector and Industry. He has also been a member of the Economic Affairs Advisory Council of the Lehendakari of the Basque Government, member of the Economic Affairs Advisory Council of the President of the Principality of Asturias, member of the Spanish Government's committee of experts on Energy Transition, member of the Honorary Council of Orkestra, the Basque Institute of Competitiveness and Director of the Deusto Business School. 

Member of the board - Independent

D. Luis Javier Aranaz Zuza. Luis Javier Aranaz Zuza. Degree in Economics and Business Administration from the Deusto Business School. He has developed his entire professional career in the electricity sector for over 40 years, where he has held executive and management positions in the areas of finance, administration, management control and internal audit. He began his professional career at Fuerzas Eléctricas de Navarra, later joining Iberduero and Iberdrola. He was Director of the Internal Audit Area of the Iberdrola Group from 2001 to 2017. 

He was president of the Institute of Internal Auditors of Spain (IAI) from 2004 to 2010 and subsequently a member of its advisory committee. During this period, he participated in the European Confederation of Institutes of Internal Auditing (ECIIA) as well as in the institutional relations committee of the international Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA). 

Member of the board - Independent

Ms. Eladia Pulido Arroyo has a PhD in Physics, specializing in Materials and Electromagnetism from UCM, with more than 30 years of experience in multinational industrial companies, where she has held various C-level positions, such as CEO, Global Sales and Marketing Director, General Management, Technical Director, R&D. She has a deep international experience, not only for the global responsibilities performed, but in the fact that she has developed her professional career in three different countries: Spain, Germany and the U.S.A. Additionally , she has completed the "manager to board member" course at the IESE Board of Directors school. She is a specialist in profit and loss account management, commercial negotiation, key account management, engineering, marketing, materials science, electrical devices, electronics, lighting industry, government relations, general management and mergers and acquisitions. She currently holds the position of Managing Director of the Western Europe and Latam Cluster of Gewiss. 

Non-board member secretary: 

D. José Ramón Berecibar Mutiozabal. Degree in Law and Diploma in Economic Studies from the University of Deusto (Bilbao). LLM from the College of Europe in Bruges. He is currently a partner at Cuatrecasas, specializing in commercial law and advising boards of directors (including listed companies). He is an expert in commercial transactions, the securities market and financing. Before joining Cuatrecasas, he was managing partner of GBP-Legal from 2013 to 2021 and previously worked at other national and international firms. 

As Secretary of the Board of Directors, José Ramón Berecibar advises the Boards of Directors of some of the most important companies in the Basque Country (including listed companies) in their decision making and in the drafting of agreements. He is also an expert in all types of corporate transactions, including purchase and sale of shares, assets and liabilities; portfolio transfers and corporate restructurings; securities market transactions, including public offerings, subscriptions and acquisitions, corporate governance, block trades and equity placements; as well as local and multi-jurisdictional financing transactions.