Inspired Leadership Award to Lars Josefsson

Lars G. Josefsson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Vattenfall, will today, Thursday, be named the 2007 winner of the Inspired Leadership Award (ILA), the international prize honouring exceptional business leadership, at a gathering in S:t Petersburg.

The high-profile prize, announced at The Performance Theatre – the annual leadership gathering attended by chairmen and chief executives from around the world – recognises Lars Josefsson’s stewardship of Vattenfall.

In the motivation, the ILA committee said that Mr Josefsson “has transformed Vattenfall of Sweden into Europe’s fourth largest electricity generator and the region’s largest producer of heat. Under his leadership, Vattenfall has become a strong exponent of sustainability and the environment, while also delivering double digit sales growth.”

Geoff Colvin, chairman of the ILA committee and editor-at-large for Fortune magazine, said: “In an era of increasing emphasis on boardroom conduct, transparency and transformational deals, inspired leadership has never been more important. The award committee agreed that Mr Josefsson’s record at Vattenfall had elevated that company to the league of corporations where leaders are setting a course for both their own sector and others to follow.”

Osvald Bjelland, chairman of the ILA committee and founder of The Performance Theatre, said: “It is not easy to fulfil all the requirements of the ILA, but I think Lars Josefsson has delivered both business per-formance and addressed the mounting environmental issues of our time. He has proven to have the guts to do it in a very conservative and difficult market. He also did it in an earlier stage when global warming was not at the top of the agenda.”

Thanking the ILA committee for the honour, Lars G Josefsson said: “This is an accolade for everyone at Vattenfall, endorsing the vital direction the company is now taking on sustainability and the environment.”