Management team

David Hathorn
Chief executive officer

David Hathorn graduated in commerce from the University of Natal and qualified as a chartered accountant in 1987 at Deloitte & Touche. He joined Anglo American plc in 1989 as a divisional finance manager, moved to Mondi in 1991 and went on to serve as finance director and then general manager of Mondi Europe until 2000, when he was appointed chief executive officer of the Mondi Group. He chairs the DLC executive committee and is a member of the DLC sustainable development committee.

At Anglo American plc, David was a member of the executive committee from 2003 and an executive director from 2005 and served on the boards of a number of companies, including De Beers, Anglo Platinum and Anglo Coal. He oversaw the demerger of Mondi and its dual listing in Johannesburg and London in 2007.

Peter Oswald
Chief executive officer: Europe & International Division

Peter Oswald graduated in law and business administration from the University of Vienna, beginning his career with Deutsche Bank and automotive company KTM. He joined the Frantschach Group in 1992 as the head of internal audit, later becoming corporate controller.

After serving as chief executive of the bag and flexibles business from 1995 to 2001, overseeing its recovery and expansion, Peter was appointed chief executive of Mondi Packaging Europe in 2002, leading its subsequent integration with Frantschach into the new Mondi packaging division.

At the beginning of 2008 Peter joined the boards of Mondi Limited and Mondi plc as chief executive officer of the Group’s Europe & International Division, comprising all the former Mondi Packaging and Mondi Business Paper operations outside South Africa.

Peter serves as a non-executive director of Telekom Austria AG and as president of respACT-austrian business council for sustainable development.

Ron Traill
Chief executive officer: South Africa Division

Ron Traill graduated in mechanical engineering and management from Dundee College in Scotland in 1980. He began his career as an industrial engineer with DRG Packaging Group, working in its Scottish paper mill. He went on to hold a succession of posts within the company, leading ultimately to his appointment as general manager. Following DRG’s acquisition by Sappi in 1990, he worked for 10 years in a number of general management roles.

Ron has also held senior operational positions with Fletcher Challenge and with Tullis Russell, the UK’s largest independent paper mill.

He joined Mondi in 2003 as managing director of the Štětí pulp and paper mill in the Czech Republic, also assuming responsibility for the Mondi packaging paper business in Ružomberok, Slovakia. Ron took up the position of chief executive officer of Mondi’s South Africa Division in January 2008 and was appointed to the DLC executive committee in June 2008.

Andrew King graduated in commerce from the University of Cape Town and qualified as a chartered accountant in 1994 at Deloitte & Touche. He joined Minorco, the international arm of Anglo American, as a financial analyst in 1995 and subsequently assumed responsibility for the group’s investment management activities. He transferred to Minorco’s corporate finance department in 1998, working on a number of group M&A activities before being appointed a vice president of Anglo American Corporate Finance in 1999.

Andrew was appointed Mondi’s vice president of business development in 2002 and corporate development director in 2004. He served as chief financial officer of Mondi from June 2005 to May 2006, before being appointed as Group strategy and business development director. He was heavily involved in the listing process and establishment of the Group’s dual listed corporate structures. Andrew was appointed chief financial officer in October 2008.

John Lindahl
Group technical director

John Lindahl graduated in Pulp and Paper Engineering from the Technical University of Helsinki in 1985. He also holds an MBA from Jyvaskyla University from 1996.

John has had an extensive career in the Industry working in different operational managerial positions in Finland, United States and France in companies including M-real, Myllykoski and UPM. At UPM he then moved on to tasks within corporate technology and investment coordination.
From the industry he then moved to consulting and engineering company Poyry where he has held different executive positions in the Forest Industry Business group being involved in advisory services, pre-engineering studies and major implementation projects for the global Pulp and Paper Industry for the last 11 years.

John joined Mondi as Group technical director in August 2011, with worldwide responsibility for projects, operational optimisation and technical evaluation of major acquisitions.