Basell announced today that Alan Bigman, Senior Vice President of Access Industries, will succeed Wolfgang Mende as Chief Financial Officer of Basell Holdings B.V. on January 1, 2006. Bigman will also be a member of the Company’s Management Board. Mende, CFO and member of the Management Board since the formation of Basell in October 2000, will return to Shell as Executive Vice President Finance, Shell Trading. Access Industries acquired the Basell group of companies from Shell and BASF on August 1, 2005.

“Alan Bigman has a strong financial background and will bring to Basell a deep experience base from within Access Industries,” said Volker Trautz, Basell’s President and Chief Executive Officer.

Bigman, who earned a bachelor’s degree from Yale and an MBA from Harvard, joined Access Industries in 1996 as Vice President, U.S. and International Investments, based in New York City. From 1998 to 2004, he served in several Access Industries portfolio companies, including the positions of Director of Corporate Finance at Tyumen Oil Company (TNK/TNK-BP) in Moscow and Vice President, Finance at SUAL in Moscow. Currently based in London, he will move to Basell’s corporate centre in Hoofddorp, The Netherlands.

Mende began his career with Deutsche Shell in 1977. In addition to working in Germany, his previous Shell assignments took him to London and Australia. “Wolfgang’s contributions as Chief Financial Officer and as a member of the Management Board since the launch of Basell have been significant,” said Trautz. “He has had a key role in helping to shape both the direction and success of Basell.”

Basell is the world's largest producer of polypropylene and advanced polyolefin products, a leading supplier of polyethylene and catalysts, and a global leader in the development and licensing of polypropylene and polyethylene processes. Basell, together with its joint ventures, has manufacturing facilities around the world and sells products in more than 120 countries. Additional information about Basell is available at www.basell.com.

For more information contact Michelle Harrell, Basell Corporate Communications, at +1 410 996 1366, +1 302 438 6574 or michelle.harrell@basell.com or Jean Gadbois, Basell Investor Relations, at +32 477 351 522 or jean.gadbois@basell.com.