Citi announced the appointment of Samir Karia as the Citi Country Officer for Romania and Citibank Europe plc (CEP) Branch Head for Romania.

Samir Karia will be responsible for the design and execution of the business strategy in the country. In his role as Citi Country Officer for Citi Romania, he will report to Munir Nanji, Citi Central Europe Head.

Samir Karia succeeds Ivan Vrhel, who after four years serving as Citi Country Officer for Romania, has been promoted into a new role with Citi outside of Romania.

Samir Karia has over 25 years of experience in financial services and has been with Citi since 1997. He has previously held increasingly senior product management and sales roles within Citi’s Institutional Clients Group business in Tanzania, Kenya, Zambia and South Africa. Since 2015, Samir has served as Head of Hub-Managed Countries and Financial Institutions for Sub-Saharan Africa, covering 31 presence and hub-managed countries. Previously, Samir was Head of Corporate and Investment Banking for Citi Zambia.

Commenting on the appointment, Munir Nanji, Citi Central Europe Head, said: “Romania is a successful and important market for Citi in Europe. Citi has a remarkable history of over 25 years of leadership in serving our institutional clients in Romania. Samir brings a wealth of experience and an impressive track record of building strong businesses, and he is ideally placed to drive our efforts to continue to build our franchise and to help our clients grow”.