Benedikt Sobotka

CEO Eurasian Resources Group
Co-Chair Global Battery Alliance

Mr Benedikt Sobotka is the CEO of Eurasian Resources Group (ERG), an international company headquartered in Luxembourg. ERG is a leading diversified natural resources group with integrated mining, processing, energy, logistics and marketing. The Group has operations in 15 countries. With more than 80,000 people working for the Group, ERG is one of the largest employers in the industry. 

Benedikt was born in 1980 in Germany. He has extensive experience in the mining and energy sectors. As a former member of BCG, he has advised multiple leading companies worldwide, including in Germany, Russia, South Africa and the UK, and held various management positions. 

Benedikt has developed a close partnership with the World Economic Forum and takes an active role in many industry groups and wider initiatives. He sits on the Governors Steering Committee for the Metals and Mining Community and the Steering Committee for the Partnering Against Corruption Initiative (PACI). 

Mr Sobotka is co-chair of the Global Battery Alliance (GBA), where ERG is a Founding Member. The GBA was launched with the World Economic Forum as a public-private partnership bringing stakeholders together from across the supply chain and now has more than 100 members, including major businesses and international organisations such as UNICEF, OECD and African Development Bank. The GBA aims to ensure that there is an ethical and sustainable global supply chain for the batteries that help power the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Benedikt is a Founding Member of the Re|Source initiative in collaboration with CMOC, Glencore, Tesla, Umicore and other supply chain majors, which applies blockchain technology to trace the origins of cobalt and other key battery materials from the mine to the electric vehicle.

Benedikt Sobotka is also Advisor to the Hainan International Energy Exchange.

Benedikt is an investor in high-tech startups, including MVS, which was sold to Platts/Dow Jones in 2015. He is a co-author of "China Champions", a Financial Times top 10 Bestseller on success strategies for investment in China.

Mr Sobotka graduated with an MA in Management from the WHU-Otto Beisheim School of Management and has also studied at the Rotterdam School of Management, CEIBS Shanghai, and Moscow Finance Academy. Benedikt speaks five languages proficiently, and also a little Chinese.