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BBJ
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Budapest Business Journal | Apr 10 – Apr 19
WHO'S NEWS
Name Tamás Kovács Current company/position Opel (Rüsselheim, Germany), European operational director Previous company/position Opel Magyarország, managing director the digital media division
Name Péter Sitte Current company/position Section Manager, Life Sciences Division, Hays Hungary Previous company/position Senior Consultant, Pharma Division, Hays Hungary
Kovács, managing director of Opel Magyarország, has been promoted and will move to the carmakers headquarters in Rüsselsheim. Kovács joined Opel in 2005 as a sales director. From 2009, he was GM Hungary’s sales, marketing and service director. When Opel and Chevrolet became two separate brands, he was promoted to managing director. In the past year, under the leadership of Kovács, Opel took the leading position in the vehicle market of Hungary.
Sitte has been appointed Section Manager of the Life Sciences Division of Hays Hungary, having recently transferred from the company’s New Jersey office, where he worked as a senior consultant for Clinical Research in the Life Sciences Division. He joined Hays in 2007 and was the first Pharma consultant in its Budapest office. By the time he left for the US in April 2011 to participate in the opening of Hays’ first North-American office, he was Team Leader of the Pharma Division in Hays Hungary.
Do you know someone on the move? Send information to research@bbj.hu
Name Joost Leeflang Current company/position Philips Magyarország, Philips CEE/CEO Previous company/position Philips’ Consumer Lighting Division/head of EMEA region
Leeflang is taking over as Dutch electronics maker Philips’ top manager in Central and Eastern Europe from April. The 45-year-old Dutch national earlier headed Philips’ Consumer Lighting Division in the EMEA region. Leeflang is succeeding Benedikt Laux, who oversaw the company’s activities in the CEE region for more than six years.
SPONSORED BY
Name Judit Grósz Current company/position not revealed Previous company/position UPC Hungary, marketing director
Wáberer has been appointed CEO of the Intermodal Logistics Center of Budapest (BILK). Wáberer, 30, has gained experience in the field of logistics working at Waberer Holding Zrt. She holds a degree in human resources and speaks fluent English. Name Lívia Wáberer Current company/position BILK, CEO Previous company/position Waberer’s Holding Zrt, head of cabinet
Name Judit Janoch Current company/position Nespresso, marketing manager Previous company/position Nestlé, communication manager
As of April 1, Grósz has resigned as marketing director of UPC Hungary after 12 years with the company. Her post will temporarily be covered by CEO Betzalel Kenigsztein. The reason for Grósz’s resignation, she explained in a note, is that it is time to find fresh, and as yet unspecified, challenges after so many years. During her time at UPC, the company ran several award-winning campaigns such as the Szőke kapitány series (Laboratory, 20062007), or most recently the series by Róbert Winkler and Gábor Bazsó.
Janoch now leads the marketing department of Nespresso in Hungary. Previously she was responsible for medical communication for Nestlé’s baby food division. She started her career at Danone International Brands in Hungary. Later she worked for Reckitt Benckiser as a product manager, regional project coordinator and business development manager. Janoch received her degree in 1993 from the College for Foreign Trade, and was a Fulton fellow at Westminster College.
E X PA T A D V IC E F O R N E WC O M E R S
SHEHRYAR PIRACHA Founder & CEO KUPON VILÁG
Born and raised in Pakistan and having lived in Europe for the last 11 years, Shehryar is obsessed with entrepreneurship and creating value for companies. For the last eight years he has been working in management consulting, private equity and venture capital financed entrepreneurial start-ups. Since April 2010 Shehryar has been deeply involved in the Groupon business model. He was in the founding team of Groupon in Europe; established and managed the Belgium operations, ramping up the team to 34 people and gaining #1 market position. Shehryar then joined the founding team of Rebate Networks (Groupon’s biggest European competitor) to launch ecommerce businesses in Eastern Europe. In September 2010 he moved to Budapest to launch Kupon Világ (www.kuponvilag. hu), which has since grown to an almost 50 person company, growing at an exceptionally fast pace in a highly competitive market. The company has become the leading online couponing company in Hungary, offering great deals to consumers on the best stuff to do, see, eat, and buy. Shehryar holds an MBA from INSEAD (France) and a Masters in Economics from Helsinki School of Economics. He speaks English, French & Urdu, and has lived in Pakistan, Belgium, France, Finland, Singapore and Hungary.
WHEN DID YOU ARRIVE IN HUNGARY AND WHAT BROUGHT YOU HERE? I arrived in Budapest on 1st September 2010 in order to launch a Groupon-based startup, which became during the last 18 months the biggest online couponing site in Hungary. I had been in Hungary before, so already had some idea about the intelligence and friendliness of Hungarians. It seemed like a perfect opportunity to establish this company precisely here. WHAT HAD YOU HEARD OF HUNGARY BEFORE YOUR ARRIVAL? During my previous weekend trips to Budapest, I was already captured by the culture and the people, and since then I have learnt more about its history and achievements, such as the number of Nobel laureates and Olympic medals. I also had the chance to experience other well-known things such as the Sziget Festival, Lake Balaton, the great wines and the delicious Hungarian cuisine. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF HUNGARY NOW? Having spent 1.5 years here already, I feel that Budapest is becoming my second home with my favorite cafes, restaurants, and streets. Overall I think that Hungary is a hidden gem that has managed to avoid mass tourism and maintain its charm. I like its peculiarities especially its exotic language. I must say that Hungarian still proves to be too “nehéz” for me. WHY IS HUNGARY IMPORTANT TO YOUR COMPANY? Hungary has a fast growing ecommerce market, located in the heart of Europe. We
have similar daily-deal online couponing companies within Rebate Network in the CEE region, so in this sense it has a strategic location in the European market. IF YOU HAD A CHANCE, WHAT WOULD YOU IMPORT TO HUNGARY (IDEA, PRODUCT, MENTALITY, ETC.)? I would import self-confidence and self esteem. People here are very well educated and creative, but sometimes it seems that they need to be pushed to express all their talents to the outside world. WHAT WOULD YOU TAKE WITH YOU FROM HUNGARY TO YOUR HOMELAND (IDEA, PRODUCT, MENTALITY, ETC.)? I would definitely take home the creativity of Hungarians and the sense for inventions. It is impressive to think about the number of great inventions that Hungarians have offered to the world. BESIDES BUSINESS, DO YOU HAVE OTHER TIES TO HUNGARY? Yes, I have a Hungarian girlfriend who I actually met in Belgium seven years ago. By now I also have many friends in the country and I feel a bit Hungarian at heart. WHAT WOULD BE THE ADVICE YOU’D GIVE TO AN EXPAT WHO IS JUST ABOUT TO ARRIVE IN THE COUNTRY? Stay open minded, let the experiences come to you so that you enjoy your stay and most importantly, try not to change anything about the Hungarians… they are very special people. ZsV