August 20, 2008

Barbara Müller
Head of Corporate Press
Phone	+49 201 177-3423
Fax	+49 201 177-3030
barbara.mueller@evonik.com
Change of Chairman of the Executive Board of Evonik Industries AG

•	Dr. Werner Müller to step down on December 31, 2008
•	Dr. Klaus Engel nominated as his successor
•	Supervisory Board will decide on September 16, 2008

The Executive Committee of the Supervisory Board of Evonik Industries AG, Essen (Germany), chaired by Wilhelm Bonse-Geuking, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, has agreed to release Dr. Werner Müller, Chairman of the Executive Board of Evonik Industries AG, from his contract prematurely as of December 31, 2008 at his own request. The Executive Committee will propose a resolution approving the release of Dr. Müller from his contract at the Supervisory Board’s next meeting on September 16, 2008. 

The Executive Committee of the Supervisory Board has also decided to nominate Dr. Klaus Engel, Member of the Executive Board of Evonik Industries AG and Chairman of the Board of Management of Evonik Degussa GmbH, for the post of Chairman of the Executive Board of Evonik Industries AG effective January 1, 2009.

Wilhelm Bonse-Geuking: “I have great respect for Werner Müller's achievements. Through his strategic foresight and enormous personal commitment he developed the excellent idea of the establishment of a Foundation and played a key role in driving it forward. Together with politicians, the IG BCE labor union and the shareholders of the former RAG Group, he has given RAG, Evonik and thus the entire Ruhr region a new social and economic perspective for the future. We all have a great deal to thank him for.”

Dr. Werner Müller: “I would like to thank Mr. Bonse-Geuking and the Executive Committee of the Supervisory Board for accepting my request. My philosophy is ‘Go when the going is good’. The past five years at RAG and subsequently Evonik have been the biggest challenge of my working life. Through the Foundation model, the Evonik Group has been given a sound basis for its future development and a solution has been found for the future of the mining industry without compulsory redundancies. I am proud of that. None of this would have been possible without the commitment of our employees and their ability and willingness to help shape the process of change. I would also specifically like to express my thanks to the German Chancellor, Dr. Merkel, to Mr. Beck, Chairman of the SPD party, the government ministers Mr. Steinbrück and Mr. Glos, Mr. Rüttgers, Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia and Mr. Müller, Minister President of the Saarland, Mr. Schmoldt, Chairman of the IG BCE labor union, and Mr. Ladzinski, chairman of the working group of the RAG Works Councils.”

Dr. Klaus Engel: “I am grateful to Mr. Bonse-Geuking and the Executive Committee of the Supervisory Board for their confidence in me and for this tremendous opportunity. I would be delighted if the Supervisory Board were to place me at the head of the Evonik Group. I would also like to thank Werner Müller because without him there would be no Evonik Group today."

Company information
Evonik Industries is the creative industrial group from Germany which operates in three business areas: Chemicals, Energy and Real Estate. Evonik is a global leader in specialty chemicals, an expert in power generation from hard coal and renewable energies, and one of the largest private residential real estate companies in Germany. Our strengths are creativity, specialization, continuous self-renewal, and reliability. Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world. In its fiscal year 2007 about 43,000 employees generated sales of about €14.4 billion and an operating profit (EBIT) of more than €1.3 billion.

Disclaimer
In so far as forecasts or expectations are expressed in this press release or where our statements concern the future, these forecasts, expectations or statements may involve known or unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results or developments may vary, depending on changes in the operating environment. Neither Evonik Industries AG nor its group companies assume an obligation to update the forecasts, expectations or statements contained in this release.