Austria: RHI Magnesita has appointed Gustavo Franco as its CEO with effect from 1 November 2026. He will succeed Stefan Borgas, who will step down after 10 years in the role.

Franco joined Magnesita, then a separate entity, in 2001 and has worked in technical, commercial and leadership roles in South America, North America and Europe. He started as a Technical Marketing Engineer in Brazil and eventually became Chief Sales Officer for the company in 2019. He has been a member of the Executive Management Team since 2019 and has worked as Chief Customer Officer since 2023. Franco holds an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from the Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica de Minas Gerais.

Armenia: The government has appointed David Gevorgyan as the manager of Ararat Cement. Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan made the announcement, according to the ARKA News Agency.

Gevorgyan was appointed Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Development in 2018. He later worked as Governor of Aragatsotn Province from 2018 to 2021. In 2022 he was appointed an assistant to the prime minister. Before working for the government he ran a printing business. Gevorgyan holds an undergraduate degree in marketing from the Armenian State Economics University.

Ararat Cement was placed under the control of the Ministry of Economy in mid-July 2026 following an investigation into the former owner Gagik Tsarukyan under charges of misappropriating assets. Tsarukyan, a businessman and former world arm wrestling champion, ran against the current prime minister’s political party in elections in June 2026.

Taiwan: Asia Cement Corporation has appointed economist, politician and Soochow University chair Hsueh Chi as convener of its audit Committee for the term of 28 May 2026 – 27 May 2029. Huan Lin, secretary-general of the Chinese Arbitration Association, Taipei, also joined the committee as a new independent director for the same term. Chang-Pang Chang, Flora Chia-I Chang and Gordon Chen all received re-appointment to the committee as independent directors.

During his career, Chi has served as Governor of Fujian and as minister without portfolio in the Taiwan government. He was previously deputy minister of the Council for Economic Planning and Development of the Executive Yuan, and before that chair of the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Chi holds a bachelor's and master's degrees from National Taiwan University in Taiwan.

Czech Republic: IKN Czech has appointed Karel Vičar as its managing director. He succeeds Tomas Plch in the role, who managed the company since its spin-off from PSP Engineering in 2012. Vičar previously worked for IKN Czech as Sales & Kiln Service lead since 2020. Before this he worked in kiln service and kiln design.

Germany-based IKN acquired PSP Engineering in 2002. IKN Czech specialises in process calculations, rotary kiln engineering and technical services, primarily serving the cement and incineration industries.