Decision Makers
Board of Directors
From 1978 to 1991, Takis Arapoglou worked in London, working for US investment banks. He specialized in capital markets and strategic advice for multinational corporations, financial institutions and governments in North America, Scandinavia and Western Europe.
In 1991, he returned to Greece where he served until 2000 as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Ionian and Popular Bank Group, General Manager of American Express, and of Citibank/Citicorp.
In 2000, he returned to Citigroup in London as Managing Director, Global Banks Industry Head.
Since 2004, he is Chairman and CEO of National Bank of Greece and, since 2005, Chairman of the Hellenic Bank Association.
Achilleas Mylonopoulos, born 1957, has worked at NBG since 1977, and currently holds the
grade of Deputy Manager II. He has been on the Board of the Bank as staff representative since
August 2006. He has very substantial track record of union activity: a member of the NBG Staff
Union, a member of the General Confederation of Greek Workers, member of the Executive
Committee of the Greek Federation of Bank Staff Unions (OTOE), Vice-President of OTOE (2004-
2005) and currently General Secretary of OTOE. He has a degree from the Statistics Faculty of
the Piraeus School of Industry.
Alexander Macridis worked from 1987 to 1989 at Goldman Sachs & Co. in New York, in Corporate Finance and Mergers and Acquisitions.
Since 1991, he has served as the President of the Board and Managing Director of Chryssafidis S.A., a distribution company of industrial goods which was founded in 1882.
Mr. Macridis has earned a bachelor degree in Economics and Political Science from ?ale College (1984), a Juris Doctor in Law from Yale Law School (1987), and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School (1991).
Mr. Macridis is a member of the board of Aegean Airlines, member of the General Council of SEB (Greek Federation of Industries), member of the board of Mathios S.A. and a member of the President’s Council on International Activities at Yale University.
Constantinos Pilarinos, born 1934, studied political science, law, public administration and European business law at the Universities of Athens and Paris. He was appointed to the board of NBG in April 2004.He is a prominent figure in Greek public, political and social life, and serves on various national and international organizations. For instance, he has served as general secretary of the executive committee of the European Youth Movement, member of the board of the European Union of Citizen and Human Rights, founding member of the National Ecology Society, member of the Athens Press Editors Association, and a founding member of the Greek Chamber of Business Science. He was an activist against the dictatorship of 1967-1974, and on returning to Greece after the restoration of democracy served as prefect in both Messinia and Thessaloniki (1974-1979), and later became general secretary of the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Technology, general secretary of Press and Information (1990-1991), and general secretary of the National Tourism Organization (1992). He was spokesman for the New Democracy party in 1989 and became a general manager for the party administration in 1993, having been elected a state deputy in the same year. He was a founding member and vice-president of the Maria Callas Foundation and of the Society of Friends of Music. For a period of ten years he was head of financial and technical affairs of the Church of Greece and an advisor on the Church's financial affairs. He set up the Macedonian News Agency and was a prime force behind the creation of the Thessaloniki Concert Hall. He has received a number of honorary distinctions in Greece and abroad. Since 2005 he has been president of the Association of retired Greek MPs and Euro MPs.
Dimitrios Daskalopoulos, is a business entrepreneur.
He is the Chairman of the Board of the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV). He is also member of the Board of Directors of The National Bank of Greece and of the Mytilineos Group of companies. He has served as the chairman of the Federation of Greek Food Industries (1999 – 2006) and as board member of the Athens Chamber of Industry and Commerce and numerous other business associations and corporations. He has been active as member of the European Round Table of Industrialists (ERT) from 1998 to 2008, the Young Presidents Organization and the Chief Executives Organization.
As the principal owner, CEO and Chairman, Dimitris Daskalopoulos oversaw since 1983 the transformation of a family dairy business into VIVARTIA S.A., Greece’s largest food company, with leading brands in dairy, bakery, frozen foods and restaurants and 13,000 employees in 29 countries. He sold the business in 2007. He is today the Chairman of DAMMA Holdings SA, an investment and portfolio management holding company.
He is a collector of contemporary art and active in the International Directors’ Council of the Guggenheim Museum, the Tate International Council and the President’s Council for International Activities at Yale University.
Dimitris Daskalopoulos holds a B.A. in Management Studies from the Athens School of Management and an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management. He is fluent in English and French.
Drakoulis Fountoukakos - Kyriakakos, born 1939, has been closely involved in the
shipbuilding industry for over 30 years, and was a joint owner of the Drakyda shipyard in
Perama. He has also been active in the educational sphere, notably with the foundation of
Independent Science & Technology Studies, a university level institution working alongside
British and other European universities, and was the founder of the Paramedics Training
College, of which he is still managing director. From 2002 to June 2006 he has served as
chairman of the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry and chairman of the board of the
Development and Progress Company. During the period 1976-2001 he has also served as
chairman of the Hellenic Federation of Private Vocational Training Institutes. He has received
various honorary distinctions, including an honorary PhD from the University of Hertfordshire,
U.K., and the Order of the Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem, and is the author of articles and books on
education and the economy. Mr Fountoukakos studied medicine and shipping finance.
George Lanaras, born 1921, has served as general secretary of the Greek Association of
Chemists, and as chairman of the boards of directors of hotel construction companies. Since
1969 he has been closely involved in the merchant marine, and is a board member and
chairman of several offshore shipping companies. He is a member of the executive committee
and the board of the Institute for Economic and Industrial Research and vice-chairman of the
International Chamber of Commerce. He also served as chairman of the Hellenic Chamber of
Shipping and as a member and chairman of committees in the Association of Greek Shipowners,
and a member of the Council of Merchant Shipping. Besides serving on the board of NBG, he is
chairman of the NBG Audit Committee, and vice-chairman of NBG subsidiary Protypos Ktimatiki.
Mr Lanaras holds a degree in chemistry from the University of Athens.
Ioannis Giannidis, born 1950, has been Legal Counsellor to National Bank of Greece since
1993. He is currently associate professor of criminal law and criminal procedure in the Faculty of
Law, University of Athens. He has practised law in Greece continuously since 1986, and has
provided legal services to key Greek financial institutions and corporations, as well as several
foreign banks and companies operating in Greece. His fields of expertise also include
international and European criminal law, and corporate and financial crime. He is founder and
senior partner of I. Giannidis and Associates law firm, which has a workforce of 7 lawyers, all of
whom are specialized in criminal law. He represents Greece in European institutions, including
the Council of Europe, in matters related to criminal law and criminal procedure and is member
of various advisory committees of the Hellenic Ministry of Justice. Mr Giannidis holds a degree in
law from the University of Athens (1973) and a PhD in criminal law and legal philosophy from
the University of Munich, Germany (1977).
Ioannis Panagopoulos, born 1955, joined National Bank in 1974, and today holds the grade
of sub-division manager. Over many consecutive years he has been an elected representative of
NBG's staff on the Bank's board. He has participated in various bodies of the NBG Employees'
Union and the Greek Federation of Bank Employees Unions, while since 1998 he has served on
the board of the Greek General Confederation of Labor. He also represents the Confederation at
the European Economic and Social Committee.
Nikolaos Efthymiou, born 1946, has worked since 1970 at D. Efthymiou Shipping S.A.,
becoming general manager in 1980. He is a board member of the Association of Greek
Shipowners and has served as Chairman and Vice-Chairman. Over the past decade he has been in charge of the Committee for Shipping Labor Affairs and is responsible for liaising with representatives of shipping workers' unions, while he has represented the Association of Greek Shipowners abroad. He has also served as a member of the board of the Hellenic Chamber of Shipping and was a founding member of HELMEPA. Over the past six years he has been a member of the board of the European Community Shipowners' Associations. Mr Efthymiou studied shipping and transport at the City College of London.
Panagiotis Drossos commenced his professional career at “Promitheftiki Trofimon LTD” where he was employed during 1990 to 1994. He thereafter continued to the “Hellenic Bank of Industrial Development SA”, where he was employed in the Department for International Relations, before proceeding to “TEFIN SA”, which is a subsidiary to “Eurobank” and “Toyota”. Thereafter, he became Sales Manager at “ABC Factors SA”, a subsidiary to “Alpha Bank”, before being offered the position of Project Manager at “Athens 2004 S.A.”.
From April 2004 to October 2007 he was the Managing Director of the Hellenic Foreign Trade Board.
From September 2007 to January 2007 he employed the position of the Secretary General for Investments & Development at the Ministry of Economy & Finance.
He graduated from the Department of Economics at the University of Piraeus.
He is currently Member of the Board of the European Investment Bank, whereas he was Member of the Management Board of the “Agricultural Bank of Greece”.
Stefanos Vavalidis, born 1946, is a banker whose thirty-year career spans senior executive
positions in New York, London, Toronto and Athens. He is a resident director on the board of
directors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, where he has also served
as chairman of its Audit Committee. Having served for eleven years he is the ranking director of
the board. He was formerly deputy governor of the National Bank of Greece and managing
director and chief executive officer of the London operations and International Capital Markets
Division of Smith Barney. He has also served as Special Assistant to the President of the
Treasury Board, Government of Canada. Mr Vavalidis holds a BA from McGill University and an
MBA from Concordia University, Montreal, Canada.
Stefanos Pantzopoulos, born 1936, worked for five years as a chartered accountant in
Istanbul, then moved to Athens in 1966, where he was hired in the company audit department
of Arthur Andersen Co. In 1976, he became a partner of the company, and from 1977 to 1998
served as chairman and CEO of Arthur Andersen – S. Pantzopoulos in Greece. Since 1998 he
has worked as an advisor to management at various corporations, including KPMG Kyriakou
Certified Auditors S.A. as an advisor to the chairman and CEO. From 1992-2000, he served on
the 7-member supervisory board of the Association of Chartered Accountants and Auditors. He
has also served as a board member of the Hellenic-American Chamber of Commerce. Three
years ago he retired from the ACAA and now participates on the boards of various ASE-listed
companies. Mr Pantzopoulos received his degree in business and economics from the University
of Istanbul.
Theodoros Ambatzoglou worked in the administration and insurance sector of Greece’s social security institute, IKA-ETAM, where his main line of work was focused on IKA-ETAM’s pensions and benefits.
He is a member of the Strategic Committee for IKA-ETAM’s Integrated Information System, of the institution’s modernisation programmes and coordinator for the Strategic Committee on Pension Streamlining.
Ambatzoglou is the Head of IKA-ETAM’s Organisation Reform Committee, as well as of the Committee for the Modernisation of Pension and Benefit Regulations.
He is a member of the Social Security Institutions Investment Policy Committee and president of IKA’s Mutual Fund and Asset Management scheme.
He has been first vice president and Secretary-General for the Panhellenic Pharmaceutical Association for more than 10 years and is also a representative on the Board of Directors for the National Organization for Medicines, (E.O.F.) for which he is also a member of the Scientific Council.
Ambatzoglou is a representative of the Pharmaceutical Price Committee for the Greek Ministry of Development. He has also been a member of the Board of Directors for the Greek Medical Welfare scheme, TSAY.
He has acted as vice president on the Board of Directors for the group of companies, PROSYFAPE for three years.
Ambatzoglou is a member of the Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union (P.G.E.U.)
He has published a wide range of articles and studies on health care costs, insurance funds and social policy. He has taken part as speaker and convenor for many Greek and international conventions and seminars to do with health and insurance.
Studies: Bsc. from the School of Pharmacy, University of Athens (1980), Bsc. from the Faculty of Political Science and Public Administration, University of Athens (1989), Msc in Health Management