London 04/02/2016 - Krzysztof Skóra will become the CEO of Poland's KGHM, Europe's second-largest copper producer. He replaces Herbert Wirth, the company announced today.
Skóra was the company's CEO between 2006 and 2008, when the current ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party was last in power.
Speculation about Wirth's tenure as CEO had grown since PiS returned to power in last October's elections. Changes to Poland's governments have typically resulted in management overhauls at state-owned companies such as KGHM.
Wirth has been with the company since 2008 and had been its CEO since 2009. He oversaw the acquisition of the Sierra Gorda mine in Chile in 2012 after it bought Canadian rival Quadra FNX - the largest ever foreign acquisition by a Polish company.
KGHM has a 55-percent stake in the mine, with Japan's Sumitomo holding the other 45 percent.
When Krzysztof Skóra left KGHM, the company's shares were priced around 107 zloty. They rose to a record high to almost 200 zloty when Wirth was in charge but yesterday were around 56 zloty.
The miner is struggling with copper prices that are mired at their lowest since the 2008 financial crisis - LME copper was last at $4,635 per tonne, up $87 on the previous close.
Still, Wirth told FastMarkets in December that KGHM intends to maintain output and keep its operations open.
KGHM is also the world's largest silver producer.
(Editing by Mark Shaw)