State Order of Merit Awarded to László Fritsch
In relation to the national holiday celebrating the foundation of the Hungarian state, Dr Miklós Seszták, Minister of National Development awarded orders of merit on behalf of the President of the Republic, Dr János Áder to employees working for the ministry’s supporting institutions and companies. As part of this, László Fritsch, chairman and CEO of Hungarian Gas Storage Ltd was granted the Knight's Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit , acknowledging his outstanding professional activity he carried out in Hungary and abroad to enforce mining interests - implementing government objectives - for the sake of hydrocarbon supply and storage, which are crucially important in the security of Hungarian energy supply.
László Fritsch started his professional career at Shell Gas Hungary in 1996. Between 2001 and 2003, he was the company’s financial director, following which he joined the international activities of the group and worked in several European countries as the European internal auditor for Shell Oil Products. From 2005, he was the business development manager of SCA Packaging Hungary Zrt and the general manager of SCA Packaging Romania.
In 2006, he returned to the gas industry, and started his current employment at the then German-owned E.ON Földgáz Storage Zrt. In the beginning, he was the head of finance, controlling and procurement, and from 2009, he worked for the company as the financial director. In 2012, he switched from financial assignments to technological tasks, and he became the member of the board of directors responsible for operation. He assisted the preparation of the ownership change of the company in this capacity, and after the Hungarian state acquired the shares, since 01 October 2013, he has been the CEO and the chairman of the board of Hungarian Gas Storage Ltd.
Besides his daily work, as a chair member of the Hungarian Mining Association, he is an active participant and a dedicated supporter of the Hungarian mining society. He was awarded the Saint Barbara Medallion by the Minister of National Development in 2012.
He carries out his professional activities in an international organisation, as well. Gas Infrastructure Europe is a professional organisation gathering business participants from the European natural gas infrastructure. Gas Storage Europe operates within GIE as the association of European natural gas storage operators, where László Fritsch, being the vice president, is dedicated to reinforcing the role of underground gas storage sites within the European supply system.