The new management was appointed by the new supervisory board, named at Monday's shareholders' meeting after RIH paid EUR 106m for a 77.93% stake in the company to a group of mostly state-owned shareholders last week.

Meeting for their maiden session, the new supervisory board elected RIH chairman Gerald Martens as chief supervisor and RIH financial director Ralph-Leo Lanckhor as his deputy.

Kubala, director of the stationery division at RIH, was appointed management board member responsible for finances, while Schmidt-Leuhusen, the sales director at RIH stationary division, will be in charge of sales.

According to a press release issued after the session, the supervisory board thanked Uroš Slavinec, who retired on Monday after 33 years at the helm of Helios, for his service to the company. The supervisors also took note of the resignation of Marko Vresk, who has so far served as vice-chairman of Helios.