William Malcolm

Ceska Sporitelna Shakes Up Top Management

Two managers left the management of Česká spořitelna. Petr Brávek and Wolfgang Schopf left the six-member Board of Directors. While the bank has already found a replacement for Schopf’s head of finance, Bráva is still looking for a successor. Brávek was responsible for information technology and operations at the bank.

Brávek left Česká spořitelna at the end of June and will continue to advise the bank’s management by the end of the year. “Leaving the board of directors was not a difficult decision. I am celebrating my sixties this year and I think it is time to slow down a bit, “said Brávek about his departure.

In the Austrian group Erste, which is the parent company of Česká spořitelna, the Czech manager has held a number of positions in various countries. Since 2015, he has even been a member of the Board of Directors of the entire group and was responsible for information technology and operational management within the entire Erste Group. He has served on the Board of Directors of Česká spořitelna since February 2020.

“Petr leaves behind a lot of good work and a special human approach,” commented Tomáš Salomon, the head of the savings bank, on Brávek’s departure. The Board of Directors of the savings bank, together with the management of the Erste Group and representatives of the Supervisory Board, are now deciding how to replace Bráva.

However, disagreements with the management of Erste Group also contributed to Brávek’s departure. “It is possible that in connection with the change of the Board of Directors of Erste Group, he decided that he would need more energy in his personal life in order to reconcile the different views on the strategic direction of IT and digitization, and therefore decided to leave after almost two years. , which he was to spend on the board of directors of the savings bank, “a source familiar with the whole matter told the E15 daily. Brávek probably got on more understanding with former Erste boss Andreas Treichl than with the current executive director of the Austrian banking group Bernhard Spalt.

In addition to Bráva, Schopf is also leaving the Board of Directors of Česká spořitelna. “After two terms of office on the savings bank’s board of directors, he decided not to seek an extension of his mandate in the course of 2020, and after eight years he wants to return to his native Austria,” says Filip Hrubý, a spokesman for the savings bank.

He will be replaced by banker Ivan Vondra, who is returning to the savings bank after thirteen years. Most recently, since 2015, he has held the position of Member of the Board of Directors responsible for finance at Erste Bank Hungary.