PPF Appoints Balesh Sharma as the Group’s Head of TMT Division
PPF Group today announced the appointment of Balesh Sharma as the head of its telecommunications, media and technology division. Starting in July, Mr. Sharma will be overseeing the Group’s mobile and fixed-line operators, telecommunications infrastructure providers and television networks in central and southeastern Europe.
In his new position, Balesh Sharma will be also succeeding PPF Group’s CEO Ladislav Bartoníček as PPF Telecom Group chief executive. Mr. Bartoníček has held two executive roles concurrently since last April.
“The appointment of Balesh will bolster PPF’s objectives in seeking out and creating value in various sectors and regions worldwide. I am delighted to bring to the helm of our TMT operations someone whose vast and global professional experience puts a stamp of approval on PPF’s already solid achievements in this diverse industry,” says Ladislav Bartoníček.
Mr. Sharma will be joining the Group after two decades at Vodafone, where he has held senior management posts in several countries. During his career, he has delivered excellent results, spearheading improvements in market share, customer satisfaction and network quality, at Vodafone’s units in Malta, the Czech Republic, India and South Africa. In India and South Africa, Mr. Sharma managed operators with over 300 million and over 42 million active subscribers, respectively. He has also invested in, advised and mentored early-stage technology start-ups in various segments, including artificial intelligence, machine vision, fintech, retail automation and security.
“I am very excited about joining PPF and look forward to working with all O2, Yettel, CETIN and CME teams, bringing to them my global TMT and people management experience. Together, I hope to build on the constant endeavor of PPF to provide great experience and value to its customers,” says Mr. Sharma.
Mr. Sharma will be relocating to Prague from Johannesburg after serving as managing director of Vodacom South Africa.
