Verslo Zinios Gets New Managing Director

Ugnius Jankauskas, 37, was appointed Managing Director of the publishing house Verslo Žinios in Lithiania on July 12.  He will replace former CEO Rolandas Barysas, who will remain editor-in-chief  of the business daily Verslo Žinios.

Jankauskas has a managerial background and has worked in different companies operating in the fast-moving consumer goods market in Lithuania. His last position before joining Verslo Žinios as deputy managing director in 2006 was as marketing manager for Paulig Baltics.

Jankauskas has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Vilnius University, with continuing studies at the Business Management Institute International Executive MBA program and the Baltic Institute of Corporate Governance Executive Program for Professional Board Members in Vilnius.

Barysas, one of the founders of Verslo Žinios and a minority shareholder, resigned from the managing director's position after nearly 17 years of managing the company and editing the newspaper. He will continue to be a board member of Verslo Žinios.

"With these enomous transformations facing the media business today, I see the need for full time concentration on editorial issues," says Barysas. "During the last two years of economic crisis, we managed to optimize our business and figures tend to show improvement. Now the time has come to deal with the changed needs of the readers, remaster our product portfolio and to define how the challenges of new internet technologies can be turned into the allies of traditional media. After the advertising market collapsed, content remains the only commodity and with my journalistic background I must be in the core place which has potential to generate value both for the readers and shareholders."

"After working in the company for four years I'm proud and excited to take on the challenge of managing director of Verslo Žinios," says Jankauskas. "As journalism is at the heart of our company, Verslo Žinios will continue to carry the values of a free press and be the main source of daily news for decision makers and the business community. I strongly believe that changes will give the company a winning synergy between my managerial experience and Rolandas' outstanding journalistic skills."