Russia's O'Key Group has made some changes to its senior level executive personnel, a move that has 'completed a crucial stage' in the creation of a new executive management team.
Martin Piterák has been appointed as chief operating officer of the company, and Pavel Remezov has been made real estate director. Other changes have been made to the top roles in the marketing and commercial departments.
New COO
Piterák was previously the head of supply chain and sales at German retailer Kaufland's Czech operations, beginning in 2007. He started out his career in the Czech Chamber of Commerce in a certification business support role, moving into the retail sector as a logistics specialist in Dutch retailer Ahold in 1996. He has over twenty years' experience in the retail sector.
As COO, he will be overseeing sales, supply chain, and own-brand production. His team will include Nikša Nekić, the new head of own-production. In Nekić's time at Kaufland, he kickstarted the Organisation & Control of Freshness Standards project, which was launched throughout Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Croatia.
New Director Of Real Estate
New real estate director Remezov has held top-level positions in other large retailers such as Lenta, OBI and Metro Cash&Carry, leading the chain's expansion in Russia.
He began his career in the investment and development sector for NCH Capital and BV Development, after a stint at Colliers International starting in 1997.
Remezov will be responsible for all real estate endeavours, such as expansion, construction, maintenance and leasing, while simultaneously managing the department of 'not for resale' goods.
Marketing And Commercial Development
The marketing department will also see some changes. Tino Anđić has been appointed to the position of strategic marketing director, working under commercial operations officer Ivan Dropuljić. Anđić will oversee the group's marketing operations, as well as store format and layout development. Prior to his role at O'Key, he worked at firms such as Leo Burnett and WPP.
The company also announced a new programme for its commercial department, which will supplement the group's expertise in the fruit and vegetable business. It will improve quality and range, diminish delivery times for fresh produce, and create contracts with foreign producers to facilitate the direct import of fresh items. Another Kaufland alumni, Dinko Gadjev, has been made the commercial director for fruit and vegetables.
"Seasoned professionals"
Miodrag Borojević, the chief executive of O'Key Group, commented on the personnel changes, "With the recent appointments, we have made great progress in consolidating our team of industry experts.
"We have added seasoned professionals with both Russian and international experience in order to best
position the group for future growth.
"These structural changes will enable us to achieve our long-term strategic objectives and leave us well-placed to meet our immediate target of developing the most convenient and modern retail formats for our customers."
O'Key Group is one of the largest retail chains in Russia. It operates hypermarkets, under the O'KEY brand, as well as discounters under the ‘DA!’ brand. The group operates 145 stores across Russia.
Its group net retail revenue for the first quarter declined by 6.9% year-on-year, due to the group selling off its supermarket business to X5 Retail Group at the end of last year.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Karen Henderson. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
