New president for Euro Coop

The General Assembly of Euro Coop has elected Massimo Bongiovanni from ANCC/Coop Italia as president for 2016-2018.

Euro Coop is a sectoral organisation of the International Co-operative Alliance, representing national associations of consumer co-operatives from 19 European countries.

The general assembly, which met on 17 June in Rotterdam, also elected Ofer Feinstein from Coop Israel, Juhani Ilmola from SOK Corporation in Finland, Colin Macleod from Federated Retail and Trade Services in the UK and Jaanus Vihand from Coop Estonia.

Mr Bongiovanni is currently vice president of the National Association of Consumer Co-operatives (ANCC), which has merged with Coop Italia. ANCC is the national apex organisation for consumer co-operatives in Italy.

Ofer Feinstein is chief executive of Coop Israel, the country’s third largest local retail chain with over 100 supermarkets. Finnish retailer SOK Corporation will be represented by director of advocacy Juhani Ilmola, who has served on the board under the previous presidency.

Colin Macleod, chief executive of the Channel Islands Co-operative Society will be joining the presidency from Federal Retail and Trade Services, where he serves on the board. Jaanus Vilhand has been chief executive of Coop Estonia since 2012.

The new team takes over from the previous presidency, which has served two mandates: President Duncan Bowdler from the Co-operative Group in the UK, and vice presidents Enrico Migliavacca from ANCC/Coop Italia, Petar Stefanov from the Central Cooperative Union in Bulgaria and Juhani Ilmola from SOK Corporation in Finland.