Finance Monthly CFO Awards 2019 Winners Edition

www.finance-monthly.com 37 Finance Monthly CFO Awards 2019 Finance Monthly CFO Awards 2019 LUXEMBOURG CFO and COO of Amber Beverage Group JEKATERINA STUGE FIRM PROFILE Amber Beverage Group is a leading producer, distributor, logistics provider and retailer of beverages. It operates internationally from its head office in Luxembourg and through its production and distribution companies in Russia, Mexico, the UK, Australia and the Baltics, its historical home. ABG employs over 2100 people who help to produce, bottle, market, distribute, export and retail some of the world’s most iconic beverages. ABG has a wholly owned portfolio of over 130 brands that have significant market leading positions in many of the 185 markets ABG is active in. www.amberbev.com Jekaterina Stuge is the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer of the company that has made significant changes over the past years. Amber Beverage Group (ABG) has added new production facilities, distribution channels and brands to its portfolio, transforming from a pan-Baltic enterprise into leading beverage company able to offer a more direct service and experience to its customers and consumers worldwide. For the second time in the row Finance Monthly Magazine has recognized Jekaterina as one of the strongest financial professionals in the region. Previously she has won the prestigious Business Worldwide Global Corporate Excellence Award in such categories as The Most Innovative CFO-Latvia and The Strongest Growth Strategy Team in Europe. Those awards are well deserved as Jekaterina is a part of almost all processes within group and nothing can escape her firm grip. Last year was quite busy for Jekaterina and the company as in February ABG completed the takeover of one of the oldest production companies in Estonia – Remedia. In April ABG increased its holding in Cellar Trends, the UK distribution company. The goal-oriented team didn’t stop there and in May ABG entered the Australian market, acquiring a majority stake in Think Spirits – one of the largest independent distributors of spirits in the country. In October ABG gained a majority controlling interest in Permalko – the oldest vodka distillery in Russia, adding to its brand portfolio various well-known brands and nearly 3 million 9 L cases of additional business. At Amber there will never be a typical day. There’s always something to achieve, to do better. As soon as things seems to be running smoothly, I like to come up with new ideas on how we could do something even better,” says Jekaterina, adding that this is what fascinates her the most. “Not a day can be called typical because every day at Amber Beverage Group is extraordinary and filled with new challenges.” When for one it may seem that all that it takes to become a global market leader is a proper moneybag, in reality it takes a lot more. “The actual work starts only after expanding the business. Our family gets bigger, our corporate DNA becomes more diverse, there are even more processes to be managed and that’s why we are actively working to improve our daily work – we’re introducing robotics in accountancy, adding AI to several operational functions to be as effective and productive as possible.” Jekaterina says that getting used to changes is the biggest challenge in every company. “Thinking of what and how can be changed and done differently is a part of my daily life. The main challenge to drive high level changes in such global company as ABG is to make people believe that they need these changes and convince them to see that as something positive and not as a threat. But that’s, too, a very interesting process,” she says. Jekaterina joined the SPI Group as the CFO of the Baltic business unit in year 2014 – before even Amber Beverage Group was created, and one of the first projects where she was involved was creation of the unified Baltic holding company. As the CFO of Amber Beverage Group, she has brought the company into the big boy’s league and now they are set to become a €1 billion company over the next four years. FROM LOCAL PRODUCER INTO GLOBAL LEADER