The Telenor Group has appointed Kjell-Morten Johnsen as its head of European operations.

Mr Johnsen, who will leave his role as managing director of Telenor Serbia to take up the position, will also become a member of the group's executive management team.

He will oversee a new regional European unit within the company which will include central European facilities in Hungary, Serbia and Montenegro and headquarters in Sweden and Denmark.

Telenor Norway will continue to be run as a separate business unit headed by Berit Svendsen.

"I am pleased that Kjell-Morten Johnsen has accepted the new responsibilities offered to him. He has delivered strong results as head of Telenor Serbia and has broad experience from previous key Telenor positions, notably as head of Telenor Russia," said Jon Fredrik Baksaas, Telenor Group president and CEO.

"A key challenge for Telenor going forward is to implement new operational models and to industrialise the European operations. By forming the new European regional unit we aim to reinforce these efforts," he added.