Bancherul - BANCI / ENGLISH / New CEO appointed to Slovensk� sporiteľňa

Jan Rollo takes over from Regina Ovesny-Straka, who moves to Salzburger Sparkasse as CEO

Regina Ovesny-Straka, who has been the CEO of Slovensk� sporiteľňa since 2001 is to become the new CEO of Salzburger Sparkasse, one of the largest savings banks in Austria. On 1 March 2009, she will hand over her position to Jan Rollo and after 14 years as a top bank manager in Slovakia she will return home to Austria.

"As a bank manager I have been very privileged to experience first hand so many exciting events in Slovakia: the development of the country into an attractive business location, the privatization and very successful repositioning of its largest bank and the introduction of the single European currency, the Euro," said Ovesny-Straka in a statement explaining her decision. "This decision has not been an easy one for me to make, but I can look back at many achievements and am very pleased to be able to hand over Slovensk� sporiteľňa in an excellent condition into the very capable hands of Jan Rollo. I am also very much looking forward to a challenging task in [my home country] Austria," stated Ovesny-Straka.

"Regina has done an excellent job in transforming Slovensk� sporiteľňa to its position as the leading bank in Slovakia, not only in terms of market position but also for its quality of service and customer focus. I have very much appreciated her commitment and enthusiasm for both Slovakia and Slovensk� sporiteľňa," said Andreas Treichl, CEO of Erste Group.

Jan Rollo will take over as CEO of Slovensk� sporiteľňa from March 2009 following the endorsement of his appointment by the National Bank of Slovakia. With 14 years' banking experience, Jan Rollo is joining from the Czech subsidiary of GE Money Bank, where, since 2003 he has been the management board member responsible for retail banking. Prior to that he was in charge of commercial banking at GE Money Bank and worked for Citigroup and Bank Austria, where he started his banking career. "For me, Erste Group with its retail strategy in CEE has always been a fantastic role model in the banking industry. I am delighted to be joining Slovensk� sporiteľňa and the team in Slovakia," said Rollo on his new appointment.

CV

Graduate of the Czech Technical University in Prague. From 1989, he worked as a specialist at the Information Technologies Department of Swissair in Switzerland. Subsequently, he worked as a project manager of the PHARE program at the Office of the European Union Delegation in Prague. He has worked in banking since 1994. He launched his banking career at Bank Austria, being responsible for relations with key clients, marketing and electronic banking. Consequently, he worked at Citibank where he was a head of the product management department and participated in managing of the small and medium-sized enterprises section. Jan Rollo joined GE Money Bank in the Czech Republic as a head of sales to SME/corporate clients. From 2000, he was in charge of commercial banking and became a member of the senior management of the company. In 2003, he was appointed a head of retail banking and member of the Board of Directors of GE Money Bank.
Jan Rollo is 43 years old, a citizen of the Czech Republic.