Margus Rink to step down as CEO of Coop Pank

After leading Coop Pank for over eight years, Margus Rink will step down as CEO at the end of May. The Supervisory Board of the bank will initiate the search for a new Chairman of the Management Board. Until a new CEO is appointed, current Management Board member and Chief Risk Officer, Heikko Mäe, will assume the responsibilities of the Chairman.

Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Rainer Rohtla, expressed gratitude to Margus Rink for his pivotal role in building Coop Pank and driving its rapid growth: “Margus has led Coop Pank with remarkable intensity and dedication since its founding in 2017. Over the past eight years, under his leadership, the bank has become a significant player in the Estonian banking market, growing its market share from 1% to 6%, being listed on the Tallinn Stock Exchange, and becoming the most recommended bank in Estonia according to customers. As we approach the end of the bank’s first strategic period in 2026, it is the right moment for a new leader to define and implement the bank’s next strategy,” Rohtla said.

Margus Rink remarked that building Coop Pank has been a demanding but incredibly rewarding journey: “I am deeply grateful to Coop Pank for the opportunity. These eight years have undoubtedly been the most intense and meaningful chapter in my professional life. I have always been aware that my time as CEO would align with the bank’s first strategic cycle—ten years. I fully support the Supervisory Board’s decision to start searching for a new CEO who will lead the bank through its next strategic chapter,” said Rink.

Margus Rink’s term as Chairman of the Management Board will end on May 30, 2025. He will also step down from the Supervisory Boards of the bank’s subsidiaries Coop Liising and Coop Kindlustusmaakler. The search for a new CEO is underway. Until then, Heikko Mäe will act as interim CEO. Other members of the Management Board—CFO Paavo Truu, Head of Corporate Banking Arko Kurtmann, and Head of Retail Banking Karel Parve—will continue in their roles.

Under Margus Rink’s leadership, Coop Pank’s loan portfolio has grown 12-fold, reaching €1.78 billion in eight years. The number of customers has increased sevenfold, reaching 211,000, and profit has grown nearly 20 times. Including dividends based on the 2024 results announced last week, €21 million in net dividends have been paid to domestic investors. Earlier this year, Coop Pank was also named Estonia’s most recommended bank in a Net Promoter Score (NPS) study conducted by research firm Kantar Emor.

Coop Pank, a bank with Estonian capital, is one of the five universal banks operating in Estonia. The bank serves 211,000 everyday banking clients. Coop Pank leverages the synergy between retail and banking to bring financial services closer to where people live. The bank’s strategic owner is Coop Eesti, a domestic retail chain with a network of 320 stores across the country.