Finn takes the helm at Saku

Aug 13, 2008
By Mike Collier

TALLINN - Piotr Smaga stepped down from his position as CEO of Saku Brewery on August 12th, to be replaced by Veli Pekka Tennilä, who will also fulfil the role of Chairman of the management board of Saku Olletehas, part of the Carlsberg Group.

Citing family reasons, Smaga handed in his resignation, prompting Tomas Kučinskas, Chairman of Saku's Supervisory Board and President of Carlsberg Baltic to say: "First of all I want to express my sincere thanks to Irek Smaga for his effort, devotion and contribution to Saku's development. We have been discussing with Irek for some time and he expressed his wish not to prolong the contract and be able to spend some more time with his family due to the fact that they still are in Poland. We respect Irek's decision and I'm happy that he can get back to his family and I wish him a great success in his new challenges.”

“Veli Pekka Tennilä is a person motivated by challenges and I'm confident that Pekka, with his great commercial experience in beer and other beverages business management and proven leadership skills, is the right leader for Saku at the current moment," added Kučinskas.

"I have always liked challenges and trying myself out in new situations. I'm honored to take the top manager position in a highly respected Estonian Company, which is also well-known in my home country," said Pekka Tennilä, a Finn.

"I am convinced that experience gained in the Finnish and other markets will help me to even more strengthen position of Saku Brewery, which is already the market leader.”

39-year-old Veli Pekka Tennilä joins Saku from Sinebrychoff, where he started in 2001 as Marketing Manager for all beer brands and in 2006 he became Export Director responsible for Sinebrychoff's export business. Before that he held management positions in Nordic Kellogg's and the confectionary business.

Saku's parent company Carlsberg Baltic is one of the leaders of the Baltic beer market with a 44% consolidated share and control of the brands Svyturys-Utenos alus in Lithuania, Aldaris in Latvia and Saku in Estonia.



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