Swedish banker Bjorknert elected new CEO of Ukraine's PrivatBank
MOSCOW. Oct 9 (Interfax) - The Supervisory Board of Ukraine's PrivatBank (Kiev) on October 7 announced the appointment of top Swedish banking executive Mikael Bjorknert as the bank's new CEO following a competitive international search process, replacing Gerhard Boesch, Ukrainian media cited PrivatBank as saying in a press release.
"At PrivatBank, Mr. Bjorknert will focus on advancing PrivatBank's customer-centric model, accelerating digital initiatives and future-proofing the bank to ensure it remains a reliable and trusted partner for its 18 million customers," the bank said.
Bjorknert's appointment is subject to regulatory approval by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), it said. In the interim, Chief Risk Officer Larisa Chernyshova will be the bank's acting CEO from November 2, 2024.
The appointment of Bjorknert further demonstrates the strength of PrivatBank's corporate governance and Ukraine's ability to continue to attract leading financial specialists despite the crisis, it said.
The Swedish banker has been working in the financial sector for more than 25 years. Most recently, he held the position of head of Swedish banking at Swedbank, where he was responsible for a range of banking activities, from retail and corporate banking to operations and digital transformation, Privatbank said.
"At Swedbank, Mr. Bjorknert successfully led initiatives in strategic planning and digital banking. He is also recognized by the banking industry as an internationally acclaimed sector expert, and is a trusted advisor to senior leadership teams of global banks on various critical topics," it said.
Before joining Swedbank, Bjorknert held the post of chairman of the board of directors at Swedish Bankgirot, head of global transaction services as SEB Bank, and a member of the Nasdaq board of directors in Sweden.
According to NBU data, PrivatBank was Ukraine's largest bank by total assets (UAH 895.26 billion) out of 62 banks operating in the country as of August 1, 2024. PrivatBank posted net profit of UAH 37.16 billion in January-July 2024.
