GERMAN Rail’s (DB) supervisory board has appointed Michael Obrowski as the national railway’s new chief financial officer (CFO).
Obrowski replaces Karin Dohm who was appointed as CFO in October 2025, but left DB in March this year. Her departure followed reports of repeated clashes with fellow executives and alienating key stakeholders, including politicians and employee representatives.
DB stated at the time that her termination was by mutual agreement and emphasised that the decision was explicitly not related to rumours or conjecture about her conduct that the supervisory board had reviewed.
Obrowski is expected to take up his role on September 1. He currently holds a board position at the VW Group where he has had a 30-year career, including leading the finance and IT departments at VW subsidiary Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles since 2021. He also led Group Controlling at Volkswagen for five years.
With the appointments last autumn of Bernhard Osburg as board member for freight and Harmen van Zijderveld as board member for regional passenger transport, DB says the management board team led by CEO Evelyn Palla is now complete.
“Michael Obrowski is exactly the right person to drive forward DB’s strategic realignment with a strong finance department,” Palla says. “He has extensive experience as a manager, knows the mobility industry and will contribute to the success of the business with his focus on implementation.”
