Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company Ltd. (MIFCO) has appointed a foreign specialist to the post of Chief Executive Officer for the first time. Dr Vitaliy Lyubimov, a Ukrainian national with over 20 years of experience in the business sector, will assume the role on Tuesday, according to MIFCO.
Dr Lyubimov brings a wealth of expertise to the position, specialising in crisis management, stakeholder management, risk and change management, planning, business analysis and analytics, production, technologies and engineering, and banking. He is also an experienced legal specialist with extensive expertise in resolving complex legal and regulatory issues in the financial and banking sectors and labour relations.
The appointment follows the dismissal of the previous CEO, Ahmed Samah Rasheed, in May. Since then, MIFCO has made two announcements seeking a new hire for the post. The Privatization and Corporatization Board (PCB), the parent authority overseeing the monitoring and evaluation of government-owned companies and state-owned enterprises, has yet to confirm Dr Lyubimov’s appointment.
MIFCO, established in 1993 with the aim of promoting and developing the Maldives’ fishery sector, has faced numerous financial hurdles over its long history. This has resulted in increased government spending to keep the company afloat. The company believes that appointing individuals with extensive experience in management would be beneficial for its future.
According to MIFCO’s earlier announcements, the company was looking for an individual with over eight years of experience in a fisheries sector-related company and over four years of experience in managing an international fisheries sector company.