Tomas Kvapil becomes president of the European Association CLIMMAR

Tomáš Kvapil, Chairman of the Czech Association of Agricultural Machinery Importers (SDZT), has been elected President of the European association CLIMMAR. This step is significant not only for him personally but also for the entire Central and Eastern European region. It marks the first time in CLIMMAR’s history that a representative from the "new" EU member states has taken the helm of the organization.

CLIMMAR, headquartered in Brussels, represents agricultural machinery dealers across Europe. It brings together 17 national associations representing more than 15,000 businesses and 159,000 employees. In addition to advocating for its members and supporting collaboration among them, the organization focuses on sharing best practices, collecting industry statistics, and representing the sector at the European level. CLIMMAR also supports secondary education in the field of agricultural machinery.

“Being elected President of CLIMMAR is an honor, a challenge, and a responsibility,” says Tomáš Kvapil. “The voice of dealers from Central and Eastern Europe will be more audible in Brussels. The structure of the dealer network in our region differs from that in Western Europe, which means different needs and challenges. My goal is to ensure mutual inspiration and that our specific requirements are brought to the forefront in discussions with European institutions and agricultural machinery manufacturers.”

Kvapil also points out that the agricultural machinery sales sector is currently facing a difficult situation. “As our own surveys show, there was a significant drop in sales across the EU last year due to market uncertainty. Farmers are hesitant to invest because of the general economic uncertainty. Distributors must therefore find new ways to tailor their offerings to customer needs, optimize operational costs, and keep their businesses running under these challenging conditions,” adds the new CLIMMAR President.

Alongside Tomáš Kvapil, newly elected members of the CLIMMAR board include Isabella Fontana (Italy), Jan Henrik Holk (Germany), and Romain Meunier (France). The new leadership will focus on strengthening cooperation among members, supporting education, and defending the interests of agricultural machinery dealers in light of current economic challenges and changes in the agricultural sector.

Tomáš Kvapil has built his career with Agrall, the exclusive distributor of the CLAAS and Vaderstad brands in the Czech and Slovak markets. Since 2016, he has served as Chairman of the Association of Agricultural Machinery Importers (SDZT).