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Germany: Opterra, the German subsidiary of Ireland’s CRH, has announced a change of plant manager at its Karsdorf plant. Berthold Perschall, 50, will take over from Giuseppe De Donno on 1 June 2017. De Donno has been in the post since July 2015 and has left the company to pursue a new professional challenge.

Perschall has been with CRH (and Lafarge beforehand) since 2000. Before coming to the Karsdorf plant in 2009 he worked at Lafarge’s Sötenich and Wössingen plants. He was most recently the head of maintenance and production at Karsdorf.

Denmark: Bjarne Moltke Hansen has resigned as the Group Executive Vice President of FLSmidth. The 57-year old Danish national started his career in 1984 working for Unicon, a subsidiary of FLSmidth at the time. He subsequently held the position as chief executive officer (CEO) of Cembrit Holding for five years before taking up the position as CEO of Aalborg Portland Holding in 2000. In 2002, Bjarne took on the position as Group Executive Vice President, Customer Services Division until he was appointed Group Executive Vice President, Product Companies Division in 2015.

India: P R Ramasubrahaneya Rajha, the chairman of business conglomerate Ramco Group, has died at the age of 82 after a brief illness. He is survived by his wife and son P R Venkatarama Rajha, the vice-chairman and managing director of the group, according to the Press Trust of India. Ramasubrahaneya Rajha was the son of the group’s founder P A C Ramasamy Rajah.

Finland: Miikka Riionheimo has been appointed as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Finnsementti with effect from 1 June 2017. He will replace the current CEO Kalervo Matikainen when he retires. Riionheimo has worked in a variety of roles for Hella since 2004 and also worked for Sandvik. He became the chief operating officer of Finnsementti in 2016.

Italy: Paolo Zugaro has been appointed as the General Manager of Cementir Holding. He has also become the group’s chief operating officer with effect from 1 May 2017. Zugaro, aged 52 years, holds a degree in electrical engineering from Tor Vergata University, Rome. He has worked in a variety of managerial roles for both Caltagirone Group and Cementir Group since 1997. Notably he has been the head of the Nordic & Baltic Region of Cementir Group, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Aalborg Portland and CEO of Unicon. In his recent posting as the head of the East Mediterranean Region, he was the CEO of Cimentas in Turkey, Vice President of Sinai White Portland Cement in Egypt and the CEO of Recydia, a company which operates in the waste and recycling management business in Turkey and the UK.