Covantis, the industry initiative that aims to modernize global trade operations, announced it has appointed Petya Sechanova as the company’s CEO. Stefano Rettore, an independent advisor to the organization said, “Petya brings a wealth of industry knowledge to Covantis and has been fundamental in shaping the initiative since its inception in 2018.”
Sechanova has more than 20 years of experience in multinational companies, including 11 years with Cargill, during which she has served in a series of leadership positions, including, most recently, trade operations leader. Stefano Rettore will continue in his role as an independent advisor to the board until June, after which his successor will be announced.
Also Covantis announced it has received all required regulatory approvals and has incorporated as a legal entity in Geneva, Switzerland, as Covantis SA.
“We’re excited to create Covantis as a company. This paves the way toward launching the first release of our industry-changing digital solution, focusing initially on grains and oilseeds post-trade execution processes,” Sechanova said. “In conversations with stakeholders around the world and up and down the value chain, we’ve heard time and again how critical it is for our entire industry to modernize our outdated global grain trading operations. Now that we’ve received regulatory approvals and incorporated Covantis as a legal entity, we focus on the preparation of the 2020 launch of the new platform.”
A Board of Directors consisting of one member from each of the six co-founders will oversee the company and help to guide its evolution. The Board will be chaired by one of the Directors and will rotate annually. The Director appointed by Louis Dreyfus Company will act as Chair for the first 12 months.
“We’re particularly pleased to announce that we are locating the company in Switzerland,” Sechanova added. “Switzerland is a thriving technology innovation hub, with access to tremendous talent and expertise in blockchain solutions. Geneva’s central location makes it ideal to continue our work with stakeholders across our value chain, as we build our new digital platform for the industry, by the industry.”
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