VIENNA — Coatings manufacturer HELIOS announced a change to its top management team. David Kubala will continue to act as Chief Executive Officer and will be joined by Dietmar Jost, newly appointed as Chief Officer for Industrial Coatings as of May 1, 2019. After three years in the position, Hubert Culik will step down as the second Chief Executive Officer. The announcement follows the company’s commitment to position itself as a full system and solution provider in the field of coatings and chemicals, and to combine strengths from all areas of industrial coatings.

The generation change in the management team lays the foundation for the future continuous development of the company, as the team has been working together successfully for many years. Kubala has been with the company since 2014 and took over the management of HELIOS in March 2016, together with Culik. As the CEO he is responsible for all aspects of HELIOS’s performance and for the further fast tracking of the company’s growth strategy.

In his new role as the Chief Officer for Industrial Coatings, Jost will take care of the further development of HELIOS Industrial Coatings. With his broad knowledge acquired while serving as the Managing Director of the Austrian company Rembrandtin and the Segment Sales Director of HELIOS Metal Coatings, he will take care of the clear positioning and combination of industrial products, combining powder coatings, liquid coatings and e-coat.

While stepping down as the CEO, Culik will further support HELIOS within his position inside the Executive committee and as the Managing Director of the companies Helios TBLUS, d.o.o. in Slovenia, as well as Rembrandtin Lack in Austria. Culik was a member of the HELIOS Board of Directors from 2014 and was responsible for R&D and innovation, purchasing, production, and lean management. He was involved in the successful integration of Rembrandtin and HELIOS and later in the successful integration of HELIOS with Kansai Paint Co. Ltd. and Mitsui & Co. Ltd.

Kubala commented, ”Over the last two years, HELIOS has laid a strong foundation to become a system solutions provider, serving our global customer base. Our new owners, Kansai Paint and Mitsui brought us new drive and an important platform for development in diverse areas through cooperation, knowledge exchange and joint projects. In the future, we will continue to focus on the development of innovative, high-quality and functional coatings that follows the strictest environmental standards and improves quality of living. With Mr. Jost strengthening the management team, we will continue to drive operational excellence and accelerate business growth. Additionally, we will continue to exploit the synergies and diverse networks of our owners Kansai Paint and Mitsui. We are sticking to our familiar recipe for success and we are proud that members of our top management are growing and developing within HELIOS. With our hands-on management approach, we will continue to build further success on today’s solid foundation.” 

Jost, the newly appointed Chief Officer for Industrial Coatings of HELIOS, stressed, “HELIOS, as part of Kansai Paint, is one of the few companies globally that offers fully integrated coating solutions for industry. Our ambition is to develop breakthrough technologies hand-in-hand with our clients’ specific needs and to offer them the best tailor-made solutions. HELIOS has a great opportunity to expand even further, taking advantage of the fast and flexible mindset of small and medium-sized enterprises, while being embedded in one of the largest coating groups in the world.”

HELIOS produces a wide range of products and solutions in all segments of coatings for various industries, professional users and end customers, as well as resins and other chemicals.