New owner replaces E-Piim’s chief executive

E-Piim Tootmine AS chief executive Anti Orav has been dismissed 10 months after taking the position, ERR reports, citing business newspaper Äripäev. The company entered bankruptcy proceedings in the spring.

In a letter sent to employees on September 18, Orav said the owners of Juust & Jubn had decided that it was time for a change of captain.

Orav told Äripäev that he did not know who would become the new chief executive or when they would start work.

The decision by the new owner, Saudi-listed company Bindawood, became public on Friday. Orav said there had been indications of the change earlier.

“The entire large and tense bankruptcy period is now over, the company has been handed over to the new owners, and it is now necessary to operate differently. They want there to be a new chief executive,” Orav said.

Orav, who had previously worked for many years at food group Orkla, became chief executive of E-Piim Tootmine, previously Estonia’s largest cheese producer, on November 20 last year.

In February, E-Piim Tootmine board member Janis Bertulsons filed for bankruptcy because the company’s financial position no longer allowed it to meet its obligations normally. A court declared the company bankrupt in March.

Bindawood won the auction for the company’s bankruptcy assets. The purchase was carried out through Bindawood’s Estonian subsidiary, Juust & Jubn OÜ.