Vaclav Harant to Join Nalco to Lead Russian Operations

MOSCOW, June 1, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nalco (NYSE:NLC), providing essential
expertise for water, energy and air, announced today that Vaclav Harant has
joined the company as General Manager and General Director of Russia with
additional responsibility for water and process services in the Commonwealth of
Independent States (CIS). Harant will aggressively drive growth and
profitability in the region Nalco has identified as one of its targeted
expansion areas.

"We are pleased to have Vaclav join Nalco," said David Johnson, Nalco Executive
Vice President and President, Europe, Africa and Middle East. "He brings an
impressive performance record of achieving double-digit growth by focusing on
emerging market penetration, market segmentation and technology differentiation.
His strong management and language skills provide him the ability to communicate
with and motivate his organization to succeed. We are confident he will enjoy
success establishing Nalco in this very important market."

Nalco Company OOO is expanding its local support within Russia through the
construction of a new manufacturing facility with plans to add a second plant in
2010.

Harant previously had been General Manager for Central and Eastern Europe for
Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., a global provider of industrial gases. Prior
to being named to that position in 2005, he was Air Products' General Manager,
Czech and Slovak Republics. Before joining Air Products in 1995, Harant was a
Business Director for Ferox, a leading manufacturer of cryogenic and chemical
process equipment. He is a graduate of the Czech Technical University, Faculty
of Mechanical Engineering.

"The current economic challenges in Russia provide Nalco with the opportunity to
strengthen our leadership and business infrastructure, enabling faster future
growth as global industrial growth recovers and translates again into rapid
growth for Russian oil, natural gas, steel and other markets where Nalco can
bring value," said J. Erik Fyrwald, Nalco Chairman, President and Chief
Executive Officer. "Our profitable growth strategy is focused on the expansion
prospects in the BRIC+ countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and the Middle
East and Caspian), to be in the best possible position as their economies return
to very high growth rates."

About Nalco

Nalco is the world's leading water treatment and process improvement company,
delivering significant environmental, social and economic performance benefits
to our customers. We help our customers reduce energy, water and other natural
resource consumption, enhance air quality, minimize environmental releases and
improve productivity and end products while boosting the bottom line. Together
our comprehensive solutions contribute to the sustainable development of
customer operations. Nalco is a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability World
Index. More than 11,500 Nalco employees operate in 130 countries supported by a
comprehensive network of manufacturing facilities, sales offices and research
centers to serve a broad range of end markets. In 2008, Nalco achieved sales of
more than $4.2 billion. For more information visit www.nalco.com.

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This news release includes forward-looking statements, reflecting current
analysis and expectations, based on what are believed to be reasonable
assumptions. Forward-looking statements may involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results to differ
materially from those projected, stated or implied, depending on many factors,
including, without limitation: ability to generate cash, ability to raise
capital, ability to refinance, the result of the pursuit of strategic
alternatives, ability to execute work process redesign and reduce costs, ability
to execute price increases, business climate, business performance, economic and
competitive uncertainties, higher manufacturing costs, reduced level of customer
orders, changes in strategies, risks in developing new products and
technologies, environmental and safety regulations and clean-up costs, foreign
exchange rates, the impact of changes in the regulation or value of pension fund
assets and liabilities, changes in generally accepted accounting principles,
adverse legal and regulatory developments, including increases in the number or
financial exposures of claims, lawsuits, settlements or judgments, or the
inability to eliminate or reduce such financial exposures by collecting
indemnity payments from insurers, the impact of increased accruals and reserves
for such exposures, weather-related factors, and adverse changes in economic and
political climates around the world, including terrorism and international
hostilities, and other risk factors identified by the Company. Accordingly,
there can be no assurance that the Company will meet future results, performance
or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. This
paragraph is included to provide safe harbor for forward-looking statements,
which are not generally required to be publicly revised as circumstances change,
and which the Company does not intend to update.

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CONTACT: Nalco
Media Contact:
Charlie Pajor
630 305 1556
cpajor@nalco.com
Investor Contact:
Mike Bushman
630 305 1025
mbushman@nalco.com
www.nalco.com