PPF is a team of people brought together by a common vision and the belief in personal responsibility, hard work, talent, and the ability to seize opportunities.

Biography

Jiří Šmejc is a graduate of the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at Charles University in Prague, with a specialization in Mathematical Economics and Information Technology. In 1992, Jiří set up the IT company PUPP Consulting and also began investing on capital markets. In 1995, he established Middle Europe Finance, a securities trading company specializing in mergers and acquisitions. Until the end of 2004, he owned a 34% stake in TV NOVA Group. He joined PPF Group in 2004 and became a shareholder in 2005. Among other positions, he has been a member of the Board of Directors of Generali PPF Holding.

Jiří Šmejc oversaw Home Credit’s Russian operations and all of PPF Group’s activities in the Russian Federation, including Nomos Bank and the Eldorado retail chain. In August 2012, he set up his own investment group EMMA Capital, where he is the majority shareholder. In the same year, he and Petr Kellner agreed that Jiří would swap his 5% stake in PPF Group for 13% of Home Credit Group. Jiří has held numerous senior management positions in Home Credit, including the Group’s CEO from 2012 to 2018. In May 2022, he accepted an offer from Renáta Kellnerová and her family to take over the management of PPF Group.

Other Roles

Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors, Home Credit Group

Biography

A graduate of the University of Chicago (MBA) and the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium, where he majored in Commercial Engineering. He was a managing partner at McKinsey Prague between 1999 and 2005, when he assumed leadership of McKinsey CIS and Central Europe, based in Moscow.

He was a PPF Group shareholder from 2010 until 2023. As PPF Group’s representative, he held a position of Board member with Polymetal International, also being a Strategy & IR Development Director, member of Supervisory Board, at Russia-based Nomos Bank.

J.-P. Duvieusart was a member of top-management at SOTIO, PPF Group’s biotechnology company, with focus on its Chinese and U.S. businesses. He is Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of Home Credit Group where he served as CEO in 2020-2022. J.-P. Duvieusart was a Director of PPF Real Estate Holding B.V. He is Chairman of the Board of Directors of PPF Financial Holdings a.s. since June 2021. 

Biography

Petr Jirásko graduated from the University of Economics, Prague. Prior to graduating, he studied at the International College of Queensland in Brisbane for a year. During his university studies, he gained practical experience at Budějovický Budvar n.p., Investa Příbram a.s., Credit Lyonnais Bank Praha, a.s., and Tabák, a.s. In 1998, he started to work for Credit Lyonnais Bank Praha, a.s. Between 2000 and 2002, he worked at Komerční banka, a.s. ultimately as the Head of the Derivatives Desk.

He joined PPF Group in 2002; until 2004 he worked at PPF burzovní společnost a.s., and in April 2004 he switched to PPF banka a.s., starting out as the Managing Director of Financial Markets. He became the Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of PPF banka a.s. in October 2013.