Press Release - Europump Welcomes New President

On Friday 2nd June, Luboš Michlík was elected as the 31st President of Europump, the European Association of Pump Manufacturers. The election was undertaken as part of the association’s General Assembly, which this year was held in Marseille, France from 31st May – 2nd June. 

An experienced Engineer, specialising in sales and project management across the rotating machinery sector, Luboš has held various key positions with Czech Republic pump manufacturer, SIGMA Group, best known for its mid-size, heavy and one-off specialized pumps and pumping sets for a wide range of industrial applications. He currently holds the position of CEO and Member of the Board of Directors, with responsibility for corporate structure, managing overall business operations, and setting the company's strategic direction.

As a representative of CPMA, (the Czech pump manufacturers association) Luboš has served Europump for many years. He became a Council Member in January 2019, and Chaired the strategic Blueprint Working Group before his election as First Vice-President in May 2021. He succeeds Vanni Vignoli, Chief Technical Officer at Wateralia  and Council Member of Assopompe, Europump’s Italian association member, who held the position for the preceding two years.

The election of a new President comes at a time of continuing change both for the European pump industry, as it moves full speed towards the digital and green twin revolution, and for the role of all European associations whose “raison d’être” of building bridges between companies, countries and people has been strongly challenged by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  And this coming hot on the heels of the COVID 19 Pandemic. Luboš said of his election: “I very much look forward to continuing the work undertaken by my predecessor, notably in relation to data management, artificial intelligence and cyber security issues as they affect our industry, and the continuous promotion of our “Extended Product Approach”, which places us at the forefront of the EU’s sustainability policy”.

On behalf of all those involved in the European pump sector, the Executive Committee would like to offer its sincere thanks to Vanni Vignoli for his fine and diligent work throughout his tenure as Europump President and wish Luboš Michlík its unwavering support and best wishes as he takes over the role.

As part of the same election process, Alexandre Lacour, President of SOMEFLU and representative of EVOLIS (the French pump manufacturers association) was elevated to the position of First Vice-President, having previously held the role of Second Vice-President for the past two years. Additionally, Markus Holmberg, Director Approvals and Regulations at Xylem, and Adjunct member of the board at SWEPUMP (the Swedish pump manufacturers association), was elected to succeed Alexandre as Second Vice-President. The Executive Committee welcomes them both to their new roles and assures them of its full support.