Vienna, 26. March 2014

Vip operator, the Macedonian subsidiary of the Telekom Austria Group, today announced the appointment of Gernot Rasch as the new Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). Gernot Rasch is currently responsible for the Marketing Department of the Croatian subsidiary Vipnet and will take over his new position in Skopje from April 1, 2014.

Rasch started his professional career at Austro Control GmbH in Vienna, where, for three years he gained work experience in air traffic management.

Rasch joined the Telekom Austria Group in 2004, working for the former Austrian mobile operator mobilkom austria. Here he held several positions in marketing. In 2007, he joined the then start-up Vip operator, where he gained his first insight into the company, its processes and procedures. In 2009, Rasch moved to the Croatian subsidiary Vipnet, where, in his capacity as Head of Marketing, he was responsible for the market introduction of new products and for campaign management since 2011. In the meantime, Vipnet turned from a mobile-only provider into a fully convergent operator in the Croatian market, providing its customers with a comprehensive portfolio of converged services. In this time, Rasch established an in-depth understanding of the market and expertise in the implementation of the company's convergence strategy.

"I can look back on a very compelling and eventful time in Croatia. We were faced with a great number of challenges including a very difficult economic environment, tough levies on mobile services, as well as the acquisition and integration of four operators," said Gernot Rasch commenting on his professional experiences at the Croatian subsidiary. "Now, I'm looking forward to my new tasks in Macedonia. Vip operator's success story is unparalleled and with my new team, we will continue to devote concerted efforts to the ongoing success of the company and to face up to the challenges lying ahead," he concluded.

Rasch completed numerous courses at the University in Vienna and at the London Business School. He also attended several further education and vocational training programs at the INSEAD.

Information about the Group's subsidiaries in Croatia and in the Republic of Macedonia can be found at markets.

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