United Group (UG) announced on Friday that it is combining Telemach Slovenia and Telemach Croatia into a single business cluster within the Group, managed by Adrian Jezina, the current CEO of Telemach Slovenia.

With Croatia on its way to becoming a fully converged market for United Group, and Slovenia already fully converged and growing in all segments, it is logical to combine the two territories under a single management, the group said in a press release.

A seasoned telecommunications industry professional, Jezina has two decades of leadership experience, including 15 years in his home country of Croatia where he began his career, UG said.

Jezina joined United Group in 2017. Under him, Telemach Slovenia has become the country’s leader in broadband internet access. It is one of only a few alternative operators in Europe to overtake the market’s former monopolist. Telemach Slovenia has also successfully grown its market share in mobile communications to around 25 percent and is the leading provider of paid video content in Slovenia.

Jezina will divide his time evenly between the two countries, with a commitment to ensuring the continued excellence of the operations in Slovenia and the further transformation in Croatia, the group said.

Viktor Pavlinic, the current CEO of Telemach Croatia, will step down from his role by mutual agreement. Pavlinic has been CEO of the business since 2016 and joined United Group when it acquired the company – then called Tele2 Croatia – in 2019.

Pavlinic led Tele2 through a successful sales process and has been instrumental to all that has been achieved with Telemach Croatia since it became part of United Group. This includes the rebranding, new mobile offers, introduction of fixed services, and integration into the Group.

The Executive Board of United Group thanked Pavlinic for his leadership during this important period of integration and transition and wished him every success in his future endeavours.

(Apart from the telecom operator Telemach Croatia, operating in Croatia as part of United Group are television channels and websites Sport Klub and N1, Nova TV, Doma TV, and Dnevnik.hr.)