Romanian lender BCR appoints new expat COO

BCR (a member of Erste Group) has appointed Thomas Kolarik as Executive Vice President of Operations & IT, effective January 1. Romania's National Bank (BNR) has already authorized the decision.

Kolarik replaces Ryszard Drużyński, who ends his term and returns to Poland, his native country, to pursue other professional opportunities.

"Thomas Kolarik comes from a key position in defining Erste Group's digital future and was part of the team that implemented the George platform in Austria. I am convinced that he has the necessary skills and experience to generate strong synergies between technology and business, to take BCR to the next level in terms of digital systems," said Manfred Wimmer, Chairman of BCR's Supervisory Board.

Thomas Kolarik holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Economics and Business in Vienna.

Over the last ten years, Kolarik has filled the role of Managing Director for s IT Solutions Austria, the IT provider for Erste Group Bank in Austria, Erste Bank Austria, and 45 Savings Banks. There, he managed 800-1.000 employees overseeing a rich software applications environment for more than 20.000 users and close to 1.000 branches, based on a common core banking system. Before that, he had built a consulting company from scratch after acting as the business development manager of a multinational IT services provider.

(Photo source: BCR)