Marija Kolak, Member of the Board of Managing Directors of Berliner Volksbank, will succeed Uwe Fröhlich as President of the BVR. The BVR Administrative Board unanimously voted to appoint her on Tuesday. Kolak, born in 1970, joined the BVR from Berliner Volksbank in 2012, becoming head of the marketing department and taking responsibility for big-ticket projects in sales and digitalization. Kolak was appointed to the Berliner Volksbank Board of Managing Directors in 2015. She is scheduled to take up the post of BVR President on January 1, 2018.

Dr. Veit Luxem, chairman of the BVR Administrative Board, said, "As much as the Administrative Board and the BVR regret Mr. Fröhlich’s decision to move on, we are delighted to have secured another well-regarded representative of the local cooperative banks to fill the role of BVR President. Marija Kolak will join fellow board members Gerhard Hofmann and Dr. Andreas Martin to form a strong team that will work hard to serve the interests of the German cooperative banks. The BVR is thus extremely well placed to meet the challenges of the future."

As President of the BVR, Uwe Fröhlich had achieved a great deal in terms of future-proofing the cooperative financial network and enhancing its reputation, continued Luxem: "And he will remain extremely important for the cooperative financial network in his new function. We would like to thank Mr. Fröhlich for his near ten years of service on the Board of Managing Directors of the BVR, and look forward to working with him in his new role.” Uwe Fröhlich, born in 1960, joined the Board of Managing Directors of the BVR in 2008 and was made president in the same year. Prior to that he had been a Member of the Board of Managing Directors at Berliner Volksbank. Since 2012 he has also been President of the German Cooperative and Raiffeisen Confederation (DGRV).