EXECUTIVE COMMITEE
Read the CVs of the people who are responsible of maintaining the AB values.
Jesper Lauridsen, Brand President Albert and Brand Leader for Central and South European region (CSE)
Jesper Lauridsen, Brand President Albert and Brand Leader for the Central and Southern Europe (CSE) region, is temporarily taking over the role of Brand President AB Vassilopoulos with the support of the local Management Team, in addition to his current responsibilities.
Jesper Lauridsen has been Albert's Brand President in the Czech Republic since 2013 and has a long career in food retail. Prior to moving to Albert, he held several leadership positions as CCO at Tesco in the Czech Republic & Slovakia, CEO of Thus telephone and Mars in the United Kingdom and Scandinavia.
He holds a master’s degree in Strategy and Marketing from the Copenhagen Business School, with further training in Business Administration from the London Business School and the Harvard Business School.
He is married and has two children.
Dimitris Artikopoulos, VP HR/OD
Dimitris Artikopoulos joined the company in 1998 in the R&D Department as property researcher. In 1999, he was transferred to the Employment Service in the Human Resources Department where he promoted to HR Development Manager in 2000. Since December 2011 he holds the position of VP Human Resources/ Organizational Development for Greece. He holds a BA in Economics from the University of Athens and an MSc in Marketing & Communication from the Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB). He has been a tutor in the Department of Business Administration of the Hellenic (Greek) Open University and has served as a Special Advisor in HR/OD to the Board of Directors of an important public organization. Before joining AB, Dimitris had an extensive working experience in market research and political communication. He is a certified coach and a founding member of the Hellenic (Greek) Coaching Association.
Demetre Valindras, VP IT Demand
Demetre joined our company in July 2011 as VP IT Southeastern Europe. He started his professional career in 1985 as Editor – Columnist at Compupress SA. In 1988 he joined Algosystems, one of the oldest Greek IT companies, serving as Product Manager first, to become Sales Manager in 1990. In 1992 he joined Delta Dairy SA, establishing the Networks and Communications department and running several projects on a group level. In 2004, having been through various management positions in the group IT, he was appointed IT & Business Services Director at Delta Holding SA and in 2006 he took up the position of CIO at Vivartia SA. More recently Demetre worked as Consultant – Entrepreneur for small and medium enterprises in business operations and IT systems. Demetre holds an MBA, Management of Technology Systems from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece and a BSc Geophysics from the Western Michigan University of Kalamazoo in the US. He is a Greek native speaker proficient in English. He is married with two children.
Kalle Becker, SVP Operations & Supply Chain
Kalle Becker joined AB Vassilopoulos on December 1st, 2019 as SVP Operations and as of June 2022, he holds the position of SVP Operations & Supply Chain.
Before this, Kalle was working for more than 13 years for METRO Cash & Carry in various positions. He was Executive Assistant to the CEO of METRO Cash & Carry International, Store General Manager at METRO Cash & Carry Germany, Head of Store Operations at PASERDA Indonesia, Operations Director at METRO Cash & Carry Japan and most recently Deputy Operations Director at METRO Cash & Carry Russia.
Kalle holds an M.A. and Ph.D. equivalent degree from the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland.
Sofoklis Yiannacou, SVP Finance - CFO ΑΒ Βασιλόπουλος
Sofoklis Yiannacou was born in Athens and has also lived in Frankfurt, Germany for 4 years. He studied Financial and Banking Management in the University of Piraeus. He holds a Post-Graduate Degree in Accounting and Tax from the Athens University of Economics and Business and he is a Chartered Accountant and Fellow Member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). Sofoklis has worked for Geniki Bank of Greece (Dealing Room) during his studies. He then moved to KPMG (1996-2006) where he worked as a Manager in Risk Advisor Services. After KPMG, he worked for British American Tobacco (2006-2009) as Financial Accounting and Tax Manager and Marketing Finance Manager. Mr Yiannacou was hired in 2009 in AB Vassilopoulos as a Finance Director. He was then promoted to AB Vassillopoulos as VP Finance and CFO
He currently holds the position of Senior Vice President Finance & Chief Financial Officer Southeastern Europe & and AB Vassilopoulos. He speaks 4 languages (Greek, English, German and French). He is a Greek native speaker, proficient in English and he also speaks French and German. He enjoys swimming and playing tennis. He is married.
Eleni Providi, VP Legal Affairs
Eleni Providi is VP Legal & Public Affairs of the company, where she started on 2001 as corporate lawyer. On 2002 she was promoted to Head of Legal Department and on 2010 she joined the Executive Committee. From 2011 to 2014 she held the position of VP Legal Affairs Southeastern Europe, being in charge of Greece, Albania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Romania. Before joining AB, Eleni was working as a corporate lawyer for Nireus Group of companies. Eleni graduated from the Law School of the University of Athens and holds a Master Degree in Corporate Law from the University of Heidelberg, Germany.
Kees Rusius, SVP Commerce
Kees Rusius started in his role as SVP Commerce on January 1, 2022. He joined Alfa Beta in January 2021 and relocated from Amsterdam to Athens with his wife and 3 children. He began his career in 2008 at Albert Heijn as a Management Trainee where he worked at the Format department and as a store manager, after that various positions as Category Manager, and he became Director of Operations in 2015. In 2017 he became Director Merchandising & Sourcing while 2 years later he became VP Merchandising & Sourcing. He has a Master Degree from Nyenrode Business University, with a degree in General Management and Finance. He speaks Dutch, English, and German. In his private life Kees loves sailing and skiing.
Zeta Cheimonidou, VP Marketing and Strategy Greece
Zeta Cheimonidou has joined AB as VP Marketing & Strategy Greece, in Jan 2012. She has previous extensive working experience in product launching and marketing both in Greece and internationally. She has worked for 5 years in Unilever (ELAIS) having the responsibility for the promotion and development of fast-moving consumer goods. Zeta has also worked for 4 years at the Coca-Cola Company assuming duties of Region Marketing Manager for specific product categories and the development of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games plan sponsorship. Following that, she took over the duties of Marketing Director in Diageo, in charge of a large portfolio of products. The last three years, Zeta has been working at NIKAS Company as Group Marketing Director for Greece, Bulgaria, Albania and Cyprus
She holds a BSc in Business Administration from the American College of Greece and an MBA in Financial Management from the University of Hull in the United Kingdom.