ONTRAS Management
Ralph Bahke and Gunar Schmidt - the managing directors of ONTRAS.
Ralph Bahke
Managing Director Controlling and Development
After completing a degree in Information Technology at the Dresden University of Technology, in 1994 Ralph Bahke started his career at VNG AG, Leipzig. In 2006, Bahke took on various management tasks in the Network Marketing unit at the recently founded transmission system operator ONTRAS. He has been the Managing Director since November 2008, responsible for the Control and Development department.
From December 2009 to December 2015, Bahke was a member of the Management Board of ENTSOG (European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas), Brussels. In 2011 he was also appointed to the Energy Advisory Board of the Free State of Saxony.
Bahke holds various supervisory board mandates in national as well as European organisations. He was the Chairman of the Executive Board of Vereinigung der Fernleitungsnetzbetreiber Gas e.V. from its foundation in 2012. He relinquished this position in 2020 and has since continued in the role of Deputy Chairman. Since January 2021, Bahke has been a member of the Board of Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE).
Gunar Schmidt
Managing Director Operations and Safety
Gunar Schmidt began his professional career in 2003 at Ohra-Hörsel-Gas as Deputy Head of the Western Network Area. His career path led him through Stadtwerke Tübingen, where he served as Head of Technical Service from 2007, to Stadtwerke Jena, where he held the position of Head of Technical Management between 2013 and 2016. At the beginning of 2017, Schmidt assumed the position of Managing Director at Stadtwerke Jena Netze. In 2020, he took on additional leadership responsibilities as Managing Director of jENERGIE GmbH and as Works Manager at ZV-Wasser/Abwasser. Since April 2024, Schmidt has been Managing Director of Operations and Safety at ONTRAS.
In addition to his professional commitments, Schmidt is actively involved in professional organizations. He is Chairman of the DVGW Working Group "Gas Distribution/Technical Service Management" and a member of the Gas Board of the DVGW Regional Group Central Germany. Furthermore, Schmidt shares his expertise as part of his teaching assignment at the Technical University of Bingen in the field of "Strategic Asset Management for Energy and Water Networks," actively contributing to the training of the next generation of professionals.