About us

Xavier Barbaro is the Company’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. He started his career at Louis Dreyfus Communications (later known as Neuf Cegetel) in Paris in 2001, before joining Louis Dreyfus Commodities in Geneva as Attaché to the CEO, where he was in charge of the business plan and carried out several projects in Asia. He then joined Direct Energie in 2007 where he was in charge of Business Development before founding Neoen in 2008. Xavier Barbaro graduated from Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Romain Desrousseaux began his career in 1999 at LDCom, in charge of the investment program in the high-speed broadband internet network. In 2008, he joined the Louis Dreyfus Commodities group as deputy Chief Information Officer, then he took over operations management for the African and Middle East region. He joined Neoen in 2013 as Deputy Chief Executive Officer in charge of international project development. Romain Desrousseaux is a graduate of France’s École Normale Supérieure.

Norbert Thouvenot began his career as international project manager at Alcatel in 1991. In 1998 he joined Louis Dreyfus Communication (LDCOM) where he played several roles (construction, Head of Internet & Data business unit …) before managing the residential sector operations. Norbert Thouvenot joined Louis Dreyfus Commodities in 2006 as worldwide industrial operations, procurement and health and safety director. He joined Neoen in 2015 as director of international operations. Mr Thouvenot graduated from CentraleSupelec and holds an International Master’s degree in Management from EM Lyon.

Olga Kharitonova began her career in Moscow in 2000 with the European Business Club (an association representing the interests of European businesses in Russia) before joining Bureau Francis Lefebvre. Admitted to the Paris bar in 2006, she then joined the Paris office of Cleary Gottlieb Steel & Hamilton LLP where she advised clients on complex international transactions. Olga Kharitonova joined Neoen in 2018. She graduated from the State University of Moscow (Lomonossov), from the Paris IEP

Yves-Eric François began his career in 2002 at Natixis in structured finance, then in mergers and acquisitions advisory in the infrastructure and energy sector, in both London and Paris. In 2007, he joined the Eiffage group where he successively held the positions of Chief Financial Officer for the Concessions, Metal, and Infrastructure branches. He joined Neoen in 2020 as the Chief Financial Officer of Neoen Australia, based in Sydney. Yves-Eric François is a graduate of CentraleSupelec.

After two years at Transocean, Christophe de Branche joined ENGIE Global Markets as a trader. He set up the trading branch in Rome in 2013 and headed Engie’s Energy Management business in Italy. In 2019, he became Chief Financial Officer of the Global Energy Management entity. In 2022, he was appointed Director of Gas Supply and Trading in Europe. Christophe joined Neoen in March 2024 as Director of Energy Management. After graduating from the Ecole des Mines engineering school in Nancy, he completed a Master of Science in Economics and Business Management at the IFP School.

Jean-Christophe Cheylus began his career in 2000 at Gaz de France (now Engie), where he was in charge of optimising the gas contracts portfolio. In 2006, he joined Poweo, a French energy start-up, where he developed the sale of gas and electricity  before becoming chief operating officer.

He joined Neoen in 2019 as Energy Management Director and then became CEO of Neoen Australia. Jean-Christophe Cheylus graduated from Ecole Polytechnique and holds a Master of Science from IFP School and from Colorado School of Mines.

Guillaume Decaen began his career in 2004 at Eiffage, as head of real estate development for the Ile de France region. In 2006 he completed a project in Qatar as clerk of works for Technip. In 2007 he joined Eiffage’s concessions branch and spent ten years developing public-private partnerships and infrastructure concessions in Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Canada. He orchestrated the works and maintenance contracts for the Cestas plant in 2014.

Two years later he joined Neoen’s procurement department and took on the rôle of head of business development in France in 2020. Guillaume is a graduate of ESTP.

Louis de Sambucy started his career in 2002 at BCG in strategic consulting before joining Holcim in 2007 where he held CEO and senior management positions in Europe and Africa.
Louis joined Neoen in 2019 as CEO of Neoen Australia before becoming Director of International Development of Neoen and a member of the Executive Committee in 2024.
Louis has obtained an Engineering Degree from Ecole Polytechnique and a Master of Science in Management Science & Engineering from Stanford University.

Emmanuel Pujol began his career in 2002 in the M&A department at Morgan Stanley in London. In 2007, he joined the strategy department at Orano, where his role involved marketing equipment offers.

He joined Neoen in 2013 as Deputy Director of International Development. He subsequently held Country Director positions in El Salvador, Argentina, Mexico, and Canada before becoming CEO of the Americas in 2023. Emmanuel graduated from the École Spéciale des Travaux Publics, EM Lyon, and holds an MBA from INSEAD.