Last week, Sarajevo hosted a festive event upon selecting best managers and companies in Southeast and Central Europe, “Best Manager and Best Company in Europe”. Among the laureates was also Jože Mermal, President of the BTC Company Management Board, who received the award for his lifetime achievement. It is a prestigious award, presented by the Independent Agency for Selection of Best Managers, the European Association of Managers, and the Euromanager magazine.

Among this year’s winners of the most prestigious award at the “Best Manager and Best Company in Europe” event – the award for a lifetime achievement – is also the President of the BTC Company Management Board, Jože Mermal. The award represents his top managerial achievements, his continuous investing in new projects, his successful managing of the company, and business development abroad. A committee, consisting of 15 entrepreneurs from different European countries, added that Jože Mermal is a leader in the business branch. The award represents additional recognition of exceptionally successful work of Jože Mermal, since he was already awarded the lifetime achievement award “Best Manager of Southeast and Central Europe 2016” in the scope of “Best Manager and Best Company in Europe” in 2016, with the BTC Company in that year receiving the “Best Company Award”.

Upon receiving the award, Jože Mermal, President of the BTC Company Management Board, said: “I am happy to receive this award, since it is a result of over 40 years of hard work, ever since my own business path started intertwining with the BTC Company. During these years, we successfully realised numerous projects, based on innovativeness and sustainability, and contributed to the transformation from a former logistics and warehouse company to a modern, open company. Our business transcends the trading business. Today, we are globally recognised due to the success in the field of logistics and real-estate, as well as the implementation of breakthrough projects, supported by advanced technologies, such as the first Bitcoin city in the world, BTC Living Lab, and ABC Accelerator. In our actions, we take care of the society and the environment by supporting over 300 associations and individuals from different fields; in the scope of Mission: Green, we take care of our ecological footprint. We believe that innovativeness is the key that unlocks the door to opportunity, and we shall continue on our path in this direction.”

Along with the award presented to Jože Mermal, President of the BTC Company Management Board, at this year’s event there were 23 awards presented to the most successful entrepreneurs from 15 European countries, along with a few special awards for individuals and companies who are indirectly connected to entrepreneurship and still contribute to its development and to the environment-friendly entrepreneurship.

The award “Best Manager and Best Company in Europe” has been presented since 1998 for Southeast and Central Europe, and since 1995 for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Based on the award-recipient suggestions, an expert committee of the Independent Agency for Selection of Best Managers analyses the applications and selects the winners, based on the results achieved by companies or individuals in practice. The significance of the award is seen in the fact that the best managers in the region select the best of the best among themselves. Therefore, the goal of the competition is awarding successful individuals and best practice examples, as well as the connecting of economy within the region and encouraging business development abroad.