Okandan is a recognized expert in regional and international telecoms. He came to Etisalat from Turkcell enriched with immense years of experiences as a Group Chief Financial Officer and as an Acting CEO to Ukraine operations in 2010.
He started his professional career at PricewaterhouseCoopers in 1992. Prior to his appointment as a GCFO to Turkcell, he was entrusted with the job of Group Financial Controller and Head of Reporting Division at Turkcell.
In his prior assignment as a GCFO he led the finance function of a publicly quoted company Turkcell and its operations across the 8 different countries. He was known for his wealthy experiences in Merger and Acquisitions businesses, and conducted number of deals estimates at millions of dollars through bonds, syndications, acquisitions and divestitures activities regionally and internationally.
“The appointment of Serkan Okandan as Group Chief Financial Officer is at the heart of Etisalat business to attract the best talent, and will bring further impetus to the realization of the Etisalat Group strategy to become one of the world’s leading telecommunications companies,” Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar, Etisalat’s Group Chief Executive Officer said.
“With the wealth experience Okandan has, we are confident that he will be a great value to help lead the group to the next phase ahead. Okandan will help Etisalat to focus on optimizing and value creation from its operations in the existing markets, grow in adjacent opportunities and selectively expanding beyond the 18 countries we operate in,” Julfar, added.
“I’m pleased to be selected by Etisalat as a Group Chief Financial Officer and; the entrusted confidence in me by the company to lead the group finance to the next phase. He added “It is a pretty big responsibility yet I’m glad to have chance to be part of it and excited as it’s going to be an interesting journey,” Okandan said.
Serkan Okandan is a graduate of Bosphorus University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences. He started his career as a senior auditor in Price Waterhouse Coopers and then worked as a Financial Controller for DHL Worldwide Express and Frito Lay before he joined Turkcell group in 2000. He is a Board member of all Turkcell domestic and international subsidiaries. Serkan Okandan is married with one child and bilingual in both Turkish and English.