At its yesterdays's regular meeting, the Supervisory Board of OTP banka reached a decision concerning the mutually agreed termination of the term of office of Matjaž Kovačič, President of the Management Board, effective as of 1 January 2012. Andrej Plos, current member of the Management Board, was appointed as the new President. The Management Board will now consist of two members. Members of the Supervisory Board were also briefed on the current operations of the Bank and the OTP banka Group. The Bank's performance remains stable despite somewhat weaker operating results.
At yesterday's regular meeting, members of the Supervisory Board were informed of the operations of the Bank in the period from January through September 2011, and with projections of the Bank and the OTP banka Group for the period until the end of this year. Supervisory Board members also took note of the current issues related to the performance of the Bank and the Group. The Bank will continue implementing its strategy and supporting the Slovene economy.
Dušan Jovanovič, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, pointed out: »The Bank is performing well despite adverse economic conditions. I am confident that under the new president the Bank will continue to deliver good results. The purpose of the decision reached by the Supervisory Board was to ensure the stability of the Bank, professional continuity, an influx of ideas for future development, and better operating results, all of which will stimulate the share price to recover.«
Matjaž Kovačič, President of the Management Board, said: »I would like to thank all the employees for the trust they have put in me over the years of my leadership. I have worked for OTP banka for more than 15 years. I believe that as a sustainable and well-balanced management team we have successfully achieved all the objectives we have set, and have done our utmost to overcome all the obstacles under these challenging economic conditions. I wish the new management every success in their future endeavours.«
Matjaž Kovačič was appointed as the President of OTP banka's Management Board in 2005 and is now serving his second five-year term of office. He has been with the Bank since 1995. A year later, he became Manager of the Ptuj Branch, and was appointed to the Bank's Management Board in July 1997. Together with his management team and other colleagues, he has implemented the strategic objectives of both the Bank and the OTP banka Group, of which the most important were the following: strengthening of the Bank's and the OTP banka Group's position in target markets; expansion into the markets of SE Europe; ensuring stability and profitability. The most significant milestones during the last years of his presidency were the initial public offering of OTP banka shares, the transfer of OTP banka shares to the Prime Market of the Ljubljana Stock Exchange, the acquisition of the Serbian bank Credy banka a.d., this year's capital raising and admission of OTP banka shares to the Warsaw Stock Exchange listing, and the takeover of Zavarovalnica Maribor d.d. With the exception of the Group's performance reported for the first three quarters of this year, both the Bank and the Group have always delivered stable and positive results under his management. While running the Bank, he has received several professional awards, among which was the 'Financial Manager of the Year' prize he received in 2010. In addition, under his management, OTP banka received 'The Bank of the Year' prize (The Banker, Financial Times 2008) as well as some other professional prizes and awards.
Andrej Plos is currently a member of OTP banka's Management Board responsible for risk management, accounting and controlling, support to commercial activities, and strategic development. He was appointed as a Management Board member on 21 October 2009, with his term of office starting on 1 December 2009.
