Confirmed Speakers
 | MAGNUS BRUNNER State Secretary Austrian Federal Ministry of Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology Magnus Brunner studied law at the University of Innsbruck and the University of Vienna. He finished postgraduate studies at King’s College London with a Master of Laws degree. After his studies he become Office Manager of Herbert Sausgruber, the former Governor of the Austrian province of Vorarlberg. From 2002 to 2005 Mr. Brunner was Political Director of the Austrian Economic Federation. In 2006 he become Head of Corporate Development, Communication and Strategic Development at the Illwerke VKw Group and since 2007 he has been member of the Executive Board of the OeMAG Abwicklungsstelle für Ökostrom AG. Since January 2020 Mr. Brunner is State Secretary in the Austrian Federal Ministry of Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology. In this function he is responsible for the federal policy regarding inland navigation on the Danube. | ||
 | DÉSIRÉE OEN Senior Expert & Policy Advisor to Rhine-Danube Coordinator Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, European Commission Désirée Oen studied law at the University in Antwerp. She was a lawyer/barrister at the Bar of Antwerp until she became legal councilor and parliamentary assistant of a Belgian MEP following mainly the Committee of Legal Affairs, Internal Market and the Industry Committee. Ms. Oen was Head of Cabinet of the Leader of the Liberal group in the European Parliament until she joined the European Commission as member of the Cabinet of Vice-President Siim Kallas being responsible for relations with the European Parliament, Committee of the Regions and Committee for Economic and Social Affairs. In the second mandate of Vice-President Kallas responsible for transport, she took over the responsibility for TEN-T and CEF and for the relations with the European Parliament and Council in her position as Deputy Head of Cabinet. In 2014, Ms. Oen joined the Cabinet of Commissioner Bulc as Deputy Head of Cabinet and she remained responsible for TEN-T and CEF, inland waterways, logistics and relations with Council. Since 2016 she has been Policy Coordinator in DG MOVE, unit B1 (Transport Networks) and advisor to the European Coordinator of the Rhine-Danube Core Network Corridor. Since 1 November 2019 she has been promoted to senior expert in DG MOVE. | ||
 | HANS-PETER HASENBICHLER Managing Director viadonau – Austrian Waterway Company Hans-Peter Hasenbichler graduated from the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences in Vienna. Following his studies, he worked as Project Manager for the Autobahnen- und Schnellstraßen AG (ÖSAG) in the field of traffic planning and construction. In 2004 Mr. Hasenbichler started as Head of Internal Audit at the government infrastructure holding ASFiNAG and later became Head of Financial Controlling. On 1 November 2008 Mr. Hasenbichler was appointed as Managing Director of via donau – Austrian Waterway Company by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology. | ||
 | FRITZ LEHR President European Federation of Inland Ports (EFIP) / Pro Danube Austria Managing Director Port of Vienna Fritz Lehr studied Business Administration at the Vienna University of Business and Economics and received his MBA of Business Administration at the University of Toronto. He started his career at the Chamber of Labor in Lower Austria, working as Head of Business Administration from 1994 to 1999. Afterwards, he changed to the aviation industry being Head of Strategic Planning (2000-2006), Managing Director of City Air Terminal BetriebsgmbH (2002-2007), Vice President Aviation (2006-2011) and Divisional Director of Business (2011) at the Vienna International Airport. Since December 2011 Mr. Lehr is the Managing Director of Wiener Hafen Management GmbH. Since 2013 Fritz Lehr has been Chairman of IGÖD Austrian Public Ports and President of Pro Danube Austria. In 2019 he became President of the European Federation of Inland Ports (EFIP), which brings together nearly 200 inland ports and port authorities in 18 European countries. | ||
 | ANDREAS REITER Director / Futurist ZTB Zukunftsbüro Andreas Reiter studied Social Sciences as well as French and Spanish at the Universities of Innsbruck and Munich. He got first into contact with Early Warning Systems working for Bayerische Rück, a reinsurance company. In 1997 Mr. Reiter founded ZTB Zukunftsbüro, a future research and consulting company. Located in Vienna, ZTB Zukunftsbüro (www.ztb-zukunft.com) is exploring core trends and analysing key developments helping clients to develop resilient strategies for disruptive markets and attractive products & services for future customers. Andreas Reiter is an acclaimed and inspiring Key Note Speaker at congresses and company meetings, Lecturer at Universities in Innsbruck (MCI) and Krems (Danube University). | ||
 | PETRA RIFFERT Managing Director WGD Danube Upper Austria Tourism Association & Tourist Board Danube Upper Austria Petra Riffert is managing director of the WGD Danube Upper Austria Tourism Ltd. (WGD Donau Oberösterreich Tourismus Gmbh) and the – 2019 newly founded – Tourism Board Danube Upper Austria. For more than 25 years Petra Riffert has been managing the tourism interests of the Upper Austrian Danube region and has been significantly involved in tourism product development (Danube cycle path, Danube trail, cruises, land excursions). In order to advance the Danube region, she is always on the lookout for innovations and has already used numerous (EU) projects as a driving force to enhance the tourist potential of the Danube. Since 2008 she is also the managing director of ARGE Danube Austria. | ||
 | DANIEL BUCHMÜLLER President IG RiverCruise Daniel Buchmüller holds an MBA in Tourism & Leisure Management and a Marketing degree from the Universities of Salzburg/Austria and St. Gallen/Switzerland. Born in Basel, Switzerland, Mr. Buchmüller started his career in the river cruise sector 1994 with a small Dutch river cruise company. In 2000 he joined Viking River Cruises as VP Sales & Marketing. Afterwards Mr. Buchmüller left the cruise business for a couple of years before he joined River Advice in 2011. River Advice is one of the leading independent management companies for inland navigation, operating over 60 river cruise passenger ships in Europe. Since 2017 he is President of IG RiverCruise, the European River Cruise Association. In order to represent the diverse interests of river cruise shipping companies, an initially loosely organised Community of Interests IG RiverCruise was founded in 2000. In the meantime, IG RiverCruise has become a registered association with headquarters in Basel and now represents over 326 ships (83,8 % of the European market). | ||
 | REINHARD WOLF CEO RWA Raiffeisen Ware Austria AG Reinhard Wolf is CEO of the RWA Raiffeisen Ware Austria AG, the wholesale company and service provider of the Lagerhaus cooperatives in Austria. Mr. Wolf holds a degree in Engineering and has worked at RWA and its predecessors since 1985. Among his duties, he has headed the company’s agricultural operating resources business, including fertilisers and crop protection, as well as its subsidiary Genol. He was appointed Director of RWA’s Board of Management in Vienna in 2009, at which time he took over responsibility for all agricultural business units and the company’s energy business. Mr. Wolf has been Director General of RWA since March 2013. In addition to his position as Director General of RWA, Wolf is a member of the Board of Management of BayWa AG in Munich, a member of the Board of Management of Raiffeisen Holding NÖ-Wien and the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Garant Tiernahrung, among other activities. | ||
 | NIKOLAOS DELIOGLOU Shipping Manager, MULTINAUT Donaulogistik GmbH Nikolaos Delioglou started his career at Multinaut Donaulogistik in 2012. He holds a Bachelor degree in Logistics and Transport Management and is currently involved in Master Studies for International Business and Engineering. At Mulitnaut he is working as a shipping manager and is responsible for transport management, contracting, fleet management and chartering. | ||
 | RALF JINA sales and chartering manager First-DDSG Logistics Holding GmbH group Mr. Jina is the sales and chartering manager in the First-DDSG Logistics Holding GmbH group. After his education he started working in river transportation sector in 2006. Since about 8 years he is now working in his present position and is responsible for selling the freight capacities of the entire fleet. | ||
 | GERT-JAN MUILERMAN Head of Department Strategy & International Affairs viadonau – Austrian Waterway Company Gert-Jan Muilerman received a Ph.D. degree in business logistics from Delft University of Technology in 2001. Mr. Muilerman has 25 years of experience in applied transport research, transport economics and transport policy. He is currently Head of Department Strategy & International Affairs at viadonau, the Austrian waterway administration. His scope of responsibilities included the scientific coordination of the Thematic Network SPIN (Strategies to Promote Inland Navigation, FP5), project coordination of the PLATINA project (2008-2012), the Technical Secretariat Priority Area 1a of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region and the Technical Secretariat for the Austrian Action Programme Danube. In addition, he is responsible for strategy development within viadonau. | ||
 | MARIJKE VRINS Global Logistics Manager Borealis L.A.T Marijke Vrins studied Commercial Engineering at the University of Leuven. After her studies she worked a few years as Commercial Graduate in the Metro Group before joining the hydrocarbons division of Borealis in Belgium. Ms. Vrins held various positions in Financial Risk Management and was LPG trader during 5 years. In April 2015 she moved to Sweden where she was Supply Chain Manager of Borealis’ cracker in Stenungsund. Most of the product is imported and exported by deep sea vessels; gas tankers and chemical liquid tankers. At the end of the year 2017 Marijke Vrins moved to Vienna to take up of the role of Global Logistics Manager for the Fertiliser and Technical Nitrogen division of Borealis. | ||
 | JUDITH ENGEL Head of Directorate General IV - Transport Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation, and Technology (BMK) Judith Engel studied at the Technical University Vienna and graduated as a Master in Civil Engineering. Then she started her working life as a project design engineer for railway and highway projects at a planning office. Followed by several stages in her professional career at the ÖBB (Federal Railways): Starting out with ÖBB Postbus GmbH to ÖBB Procurement and finally ÖBB Infrastruktur AG. As a project director of “Vienna Main Station” she worked from 2005 to 2015. After bringing the main station into service, she moved to Vienna International Airport (VIE). Until 2020 she held the position as the head of department for “construction planning, building and facility management”. Since beginning 2021 Mrs. Engel is the head of “Directorate General IV – Transport” at the Federal Ministry for Climate Action. Photo: © Amarilio Ramalho | ||
 | ANDREAS REINHARDT Head of Electricity and Gas Services LINZ AG Andreas Reinhardt studied electrical Engineering in Graz/Austria. For 14 years he developed machine and robot control systems for a well-known automation company in Austria. In 2010 Mr. Reinhardt changed into the energy division of LINZ AG. For the next five years he was responsible for the maintenance and development of the electrical power grid in the area of Linz. Part of his responsibility was the introduction of a smart metering system. In this time, Mr. Reinhardt established a new division for alternative energy services. Since 2015 he is fully responsible for energy services and develops and provides solutions for e-mobility and renewable energy production as contribution of LINZ AG for a greenhouse gas free future of Austria. | ||
 | SIMON HARTL Head of Team Transport Development viadonau – Austrian Waterway Company Simon Hartl studied urban and regional planning at the Vienna University of Technology and at the University of Manchester (GB) with focus on transport planning and infrastructure policy. In his position as Head of Team Transport Development at viadonau Simon Hartl is responsible for the support of users of the Danube waterway from the cargo and passenger shipping sector. Since 2007 he has worked on national and international projects which promote the further development of transport and logistics services along the Danube waterway. In 2019 Simon Hartl was appointed as viadonau’s technical coordinator for the implementation of shore power supply along the Austrian Danube. | ||
 | ERIK SCHULTZ Vice Chairman Royal BLN-Schuttevaer Mr. Schultz is an educated naval architect and business economics and worked over 40 years in technical and commercial management positions in the shipbuilding industry. After closing his active career in shipbuilding, he continued working as director of a financing company related to the shipbuilding sector. Parallel to the shipbuilding world, he was over 20 years active as committee member in the Dutch inland shipping branch organisation BLN, previously Kon. Schuttevaer. Since 2014 Mr. Schultz is chairman of the Nautical-Technical committee and vice chairman of BLN. He is also officiating in the European Inland Waterway Transportation platform IWT and European Skippers Organization (ESO-OEB) as chairman of the infrastructure committee. Furthermore he is active as Co-member in the board of Inland Navigation Europe (INE) and Verein für europäische Binnenschifffahrt und Wasserstraßen e.V.(VBW). | ||
 | BIANCA BORCA Research Associate University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria Bianca Borca BA MA studied International Logistics Management and Supply Chain Management at the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria and graduated in June 2019. Since September 2019 she has been working at the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria in the research field sustainable transport. She is an expert in inland navigation and she contributes to projects regarding IWT, such as REWWay. Within REWWay she works on the topic of IWT in crisis times and holds workshops focusing sustainable transport and IWT, so called Transport School Labs. Moreover, she is PhD student and deals with the economic evaluation of bottlenecks along the Danube. | ||
