György Berze

György Berze

February 13, 2024 | Evelin Szőke

After graduating from the University of Forestry and Wood Sciences in Sopron, Dr. György Berze started his professional career in 1993 as a technical manager at the Austrian State Forestry in Austria. Later, after graduating from the Budapest College of Foreign Trade with a degree in engineering and economics, he held commercial and marketing positions in both Hungary and abroad, first in middle and then in senior management positions, in multinational oil companies (ARAL, BP and OMV) until 2007.

In 1996 he earned a PhD in Environmental Engineering from the University of Agricultural Sciences in Vienna. From 2008 to 2015, he worked in the Hungarian petroleum industry as CEO and board member of Opal Tartálypark Zrt., a crude oil and petroleum product strategic stockpiling company owned by the Hungarian Hydrocarbon Stockpiling Association (HUSA), and thus contributed responsibly to ensuring the country’s uninterrupted supply in crisis situations and to maintaining the security of Hungary’s energy supply.

In 2013, he took a leading role – on behalf of HUSA – in the state transaction of the Szőreg-1 underground strategic gas storage facility, in the development of the terms and conditions of the operating contracts between MMBF Zrt. and MOL Nyrt. Between 2014 and 2015, he was a member of the Board of MMBF Zrt., operating the strategic gas storage facility.

Between 2016 and 2018, he worked as the Managing Director of National Public Utilities (NKM) Natural Gas Network Ltd. (formerly FŐGÁZ Földgázelosztási Kft.) focusing on the rationalisation of the natural gas distribution operations and the consolidation of the integrated processes of the national public utility company. Under his management, the company operated 5,860 kilometres of well-maintained gas network, upgraded approximately 30 kilometres of pipeline each year, and supplied gas to 810,000 consumers, ensuring the daily supply of natural gas to nearly 2 million people.

In 2018, he made a short detour from the gas industry to MVM, where he was in charge of technical services. He was the Chairman of the Supervisory Board and member of the Board of Directors of MVM Titán Zrt. Since 2019, he has been the CEO of HEXUM Földgáz Zrt. (formerly MMBF Zrt.), which operates the 1.9 bcm Szőreg-1 underground gas storage facility in possession of the strategic and commercial natural gas storage licence issued by the Hungarian Energy and Public Utility Regulatory Office (MEKH) and in accordance with the designation granted by the Ministry of National Development under Decree no. 13/2011 (7.4.2011), ensuring high level of supply to its trading partners, firstly through the HUSA (strategic gas reserve), and secondly through its unique level of preparation in Europe resolving eventual supply problems.

Since 2022 Dr. György Berze has been the appointed CEO of HEXUM Holding Zrt., and he also holds the position of CEO of both HEXUM Földgáz Zrt. and HEXUM Tartálypark Zrt. As a member of the Board of the MBSZ, his aim is to strengthen the representation of the sector’s interests and to improve the operating conditions of mining enterprises. In 2023, Dr. György Berze was awarded a ministerial diploma recognizing his outstanding professional performance on the occasion of St. Borbála’s Day.