Russia: Heineken appointed former SABMiller executive to head sales in Russia

Heineken has appointed Kobus van Roojen as the new director of the brewer's sales and distribution in Russia, Interfax News Agency posted on September 20.

Van Roojen, who has previously worked for brewers SABMiller, Interbrew (currently InBev) and Heineken, assumed his new position in August, Heineken said in a press release. In 2002, he moved from the post of exports director at SAB to the position of marketing director at Namibian Breweries Limited, a subsidiary of Beck's/Interbrew.

After Heineken and Diageo acquired shares in Interbrew in 2003, Van Roojen was named director of sales and distribution at Heineken's head office in Amsterdam.

Van Roojen holds a logistics diploma from the University of South Africa, and a Masters of Science and PhD from LaSalle University in the United States.

Heineken began working in Russia in 2002, when it bought St. Petersburg brewery Bravo for $400 million. In 2004, the company acquired Novosibirsk brewery Sobol Beer and TsEPKO, which owned the Shikhan brewery in Sterlitamak and Volga brewery in Nizhny Novgorod. Last year Heineken bought the Patra brewery in Yekaterinburg, Stepan Razin in St. Petersburg, Baikal Brewing Company and Ivan Taranov Breweries.

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