Frei the first to fall

ROBERT Frei (left) has stepped down from his position as global head of product and procurement, air at Panalpina. The move happened shortly after the company received an EU Statement of Objections letter concerning its alleged involvement in anti-trust activity.A Panalpina spokesperson confirmed that Frei had “stepped down for personal reasons”, adding that Frei did, however, remain with the company. The spokesperson could not confirm Frei’s current status within Panalpina and also could neither confirm nor deny that the move was directly related to the EU investigation.According to the spokesperson, Frei’s role has temporarily been assigned to Dominik Tichelkamp, chief product and procurement officer and executive board member.
At the time of the alleged anti-trust actions, Frei was also chairman of FreightForward International (FFI) – an interest group comprising the heads of airfreight from global freight forwarders and logistics providers. FFI members included the majority of freight forwarders that have been investigated – including DB Schenker, Panalpina, DHL and UTi.

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