TALLINN - Allan Martinson, who for more than six years has headed the largest information technology group in the Baltics, Pan-Baltic MicroLink, will resign as CEO of the company and will take up a post in the supervisory board. After unloading its Latvian subsidiary SAF Tehnika holding in a successful share issue, the company will now concentrate on providing IT services to Baltic corporate clients and the public sector.
Janis Bergs, a board member who was earlier responsible for IT companies and heads MicroLink Latvia, will take over as the management board's new chairman.
"As MicroLink's leader I have achieved the aims I set for myself and will now hand over the relay to my good colleague Janis Bergs," Martinson said. "I believe the shareholders who have financed MicroLink's development can be satisfied with their investments."
Martinson will go into business connected with technology investments, which he does not yet wish to speak about in close detail.
"Martinson's career as MicroLink board chairman was longer than he had presumed," supervisory board chairman Kristjan Kalda said. "During that time MicroLink has proven that a team made up of Balts is able to successfully manage an international group."
"Thanks to successful technology investments, MicroLink will make a record profit of hundreds of millions of kroons this year," he added.
Together with Martinson, CEO of SAF Tehnika's Normunds Bergs will also resign from the MicroLink management board. At the shareholders' general meeting, MicroLink's major investors and the supervisory board moved that both resigning managers should be elected to the supervisory board.
Of present board members, Peter Priisalm, CEO of MicroLink Estonia, and Mait Nilson, responsible for the standing services business line, will remain in office. Two new members; Janis Rancans, head of applications line, and CFO Aira Loite will be added to the management board while Peter Priisalm, appointed board chairman of MicroLink Estonia in July 2003, will continue in his present post, the company said.
Before taking up his post in May 1998, Martinson was a member of MicroLink and subsidiaries' supervisory boards. Until spring of that year, Martinson headed the news agency Baltic News Service, which he established in 1990.
As for MicroLink's new aim, it is to offer corporate clients complete IT service outsourcing. This includes PC and central system services, data communication, software development and application, consultations and the hardware necessary for solutions.
IT services and solutions account for more than 600 million kroons (38.34 million euros) of the group's consolidated yearly turnover.
"SAF Tehnika was the last subsidiary of MicroLink which was not directly linked with the firm's core business, that is, providing IT services and solutions to Baltic corporate clients," the company said.
In January MicroLink sold its Delfi portals to the Norwegian company Findexa. Last year the group withdrew from the production of personal computers when it sold the unit to firm executives. The company either sold or discontinued a number of other operations in previous years as well.
