Sven Riskær, Managing Director of the Industrialisation Fund for Developing Countries (IFU), the Investment Fund for Central and Eastern Europe (IØ) and the Investment Fund for Emerging Markets (IFV) resigns from his position as of 31 July 2006.
Sven Riskær, who is 67 years old, has been the managing director of IFU since 1978 – except for a leave of absence from 1983 – 1985 when he held the position as Vice President for Africa in IFC under the World Bank – and he has through an important and persistent effort placed IFU as an internationally professional finance institution which in cooperation with Danish businesses has contributed to the development of enterprises in the developing countries.
Sven Riskær has also been the managing director of IØ since its establishment in 1989 with the purpose of supporting the reform processes in Central and Eastern Europe through investments or loans to private enterprises in cooperation with Danish companies. Sven Riskær has also been the managing director of IFV since 1996.
In 2005, the Danish government decided that in the future IFU should concentrate its efforts on the poorer developing countries with special focus on Africa. At the same time, it was decided to phase out IØ concurrently with the accession into the EU of the countries in Central and Eastern Europe and this means that today IØ’s new investments are limited to Ukraine and Russia and are expected to cease in 2012. IFV no longer makes new investment and is being phased out.
These changes will be implemented in the coming years.
On this background, the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Sven Riskær have agreed that it would be right to carry through a change of managing director as per 31 July 2006 – at the same time as the appointment of the new Supervisory Board of the Funds (the Supervisory Board is appointed for a period of 3 years). During a period of six months after his resignation as managing director, Sven Riskær will assist the new management of the Funds in connection with the restructuring of the long-term strategies.
After 31 January 2007, Sven Riskær, who came to IFU from a management position with the company Paul Bergsøe & Søn A/S, will resume his work in the private sector through advisory services about international investment and market conditions.
Johannes Poulsen
Chairman of IFU, IØ and IFV
Copenhagen, 26 January 2006