Finnish postal operator Itella has appointed Heikki Malinen (50) as its new president and CEO asof December 11, 2012, replacing Jukka Alho who has been the head of the company since 2000 and will
retire as his contract expires.Malinen will take on his new post on November 1, 2012. “Itella is Finland’s leading companyspecialising in mail communication, logistics and information logistics and it has a nationallysignificant role in producing the basic service. Digitalisation, e-commerce and globalisationprovide Itella with interesting growth opportunities in Finland and abroad, while also involvingchallenges. I look forward to meeting with the company’s staff, customers and stakeholders and totaking the company to the next stage of development,” he said.
Previously, Malinen was the president and CEO of Pöyry, which provides consultancy services forcompanies in the power, nuclear and oil/gas sector, from 2008 to June 2012. Prior to that, he wasemployed as the Executive Vice President of Strategy and a Member of Executive Committee atUPM-Kymmene, the Finnish pulp, paper and timber manufacturer. During the time period 1997-2005, heworked in the United States for UPM-Kymmene, Pöyry and McKinsey & Company.
Arto Hiltunen, Chairman of Itella’s Board, stressed that Malinen’s long-term experience indemanding executive tasks provides an excellent basis to lead Itella during the time of decliningmail volumes and growing digital communication, e-commerce, and logistics which create newopportunities for the company.
“Malinen’s experience in executive tasks of major international companies will support Itella’ssuccess in its internationalisation and help us meet the challenges of the ever-tighteninginternational competition,” he added.
