Ursus brings in a Romanian executive from BAT to replace Igor Tikhonov | Progresiv

Ursus Breweries announces the appointment of Dragos Constantinescu as President of the company starting with 2019. He has an experience of 16 years at BAT, the producer of Kent cigarettes, outside Romania, the last occupied position being Central European Area Director, covering the Commercial and Electronic Cigarettes divisions in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and the Baltic Countries.

The manager has started his career at the BAT export division in Amsterdam, successively running roles with increased financial responsibility, as well as leading positions at national and regional level in the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Poland.

At Ursus Breweries, he succeeds Igor Tikhonov, who, after five years of activity in Romania, took over a new term as President of the Asahi Breweries Europe Group at the Polish subsidiary (Kompania Piwowarska). In his mandate, Ursus was integrated into the Asahi Japanese group following the completion of a 7.3 billion-euro transaction that included former SABMiller brands and assets in five Eastern European countries: Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary. The takeover was completed in 2017.

Ursus Breweries is the leader of the local beer market, with brands like Ursus, Timisoreana, Ciucas, Grolsch, Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Redd's, etc. The company ended 2017 with business of 374 million euros (1.710 million lei) and a net profit of 34.6 million euros (158 million lei), both values increasing compared to 2016.