About

A part of RWE since 2001 when he joined as corporate counsel, Dr Ulrich Rust has risen steadily through the ranks of the company since then, and brings unparalleled knowledge of legal issues related to the German electricity network to his role. Prior to his current role as general counsel and head of legal, he went through the roles of head of competition and energy law, deputy general counsel of RWE, general counsel and chief compliance officer of RWE Generation, and has thus built up an encyclopaedic knowledge of the company’s operations. Dr Rust reminisces about some of his major achievements with the company, which have included involvement in some of the major sea changes in the German energy sector: ‘A true highlight of my earlier days with RWE was the intensive regulatory debate on energy market liberalisation and alleged market dominance, which put RWE and other incumbents under significant pressure by competition authorities. Having been in charge for competition and energy law back then, it was for me a key task to organise our group-wide corporate defence and to dig into the very details of energy markets and internal operations. Another highlight with significant legal and regulatory impact is the on-going energy transition both in Germany and in Europe which put enormous pressure on the market participants and RWE in particular. The nuclear phase-out and ongoing decarbonisation debate requires the highest attention from a legal perspective, be it negotiations with government, preparing for complex litigations or compliance with the fiduciary duties of top management’. In terms of deals, Dr Rust continues that ‘the RWE-EON deal signed in 2018 and to be implemented over the course of 2019 was without a doubt the most important M&A transaction to make it onto my desk’.