Austria.- Casinos Austria has named a new chairman as it continues with its restructuring. It has appointed Wolfgang Hesoun, the general director of Siemens Austria, as chairman of the supervisory board. He will replace Sazka chief executive Robert Chvátal, who was occupying the position on a temporary basis following Walter Rothensteiner’s departure in July. 

The company has also appointed Christine Catasta, former chief executive at PwC, and Erika Stark-Rittenauer, an expert on compliance and player protection, to the supervisory board.

They will replace Gerhild Hofer and Thomas Polzer.

Casinos Austria, now majority-owned by Sazka, launched a major restructuring programme this year. It aims to cut 350 jobs and find €50m a year in savings.

Hesoun said protecting players from gambling-related harm will be a major priority during his tenure.

He said: “We want to establish Casinos Austria as a best practice company in the field of player protection in the coming years.”

Hesoun is considered to be close to the SPÖ, but is also well connected to Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz , he was head of the Vienna Industrialists' Association.

The long-time chairman of the supervisory board, Raiffeisen General Advocate Walter Rothensteiner , had resigned his mandate prematurely.