OPAP CEO takes on chairmanship in board reshuffle
Jan Karas adds to daily frontline duties as he replaces Kamil Ziegler who elected to step down from position due to personal reasons
OPAP CEO Jan Karas has been named the operator’s new chair following a board reshuffle, adding a new role to his daily duties.
Karas has served as the Greek firm’s CEO on a permanent basis since December 2020 after being named interim boss in May 2020 to replace Damian Cope.
Effective yesterday, 1 October, Karas will also take up the chairmanship, replacing Kamil Ziegler in the process.
Ziegler has decided to step down as chair for “personal reasons”, although he will remain on the board as an executive member.
The seasoned professional will also continue to operate as an advisor to Karas on both corporate affairs and strategy.
Ziegler’s spell as OPAP chair began in 2013. He also spent time as the company’s CEO for three years between 2013 and 2016.
Karas’ appointment as chair was ratified by the OPAP remuneration and nomination committee in a meeting held on 26 September.
During the same meeting, Cherrie Mae Chiomento-Ferreria was named as a vice-chair to sit alongside existing vice-chair Pavel Šaroch.
Chiomento-Ferreria has sat on the OPAP board as an independent non-executive director since June 2022.
The remaining members of the board were unchanged, and comprise of: CFO Pavel Mucha, Katarina Kohlmayer, Igor Rusek, Nicole Conrad-Forker, Theodore Panagos, Georgios Mantakas and Allwyn CEO Robert Chvátal.
The new board members’ terms of office will run until 9 June 2026.
Last month, OPAP’s H1 results showed the firm posted GGR of €1.08bn, up 5.6% year on year.
However, EBITDA remained flat during the first six months of the year, slipping 0.2% to €373.7m.
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