Dejan Papic pronounced EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2018

The founder and owner of Laguna, Dejan Papic, has won the prestigious EY Entrepreneur of the Year award, which the international professional services company EY (Ernst&Young) has been giving out for seven years now. The award was given to the winner by the president of the independent jury, Darko Budec, and the Country Managing Partner for Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina at EY, Ivan Rakic.

In addition to the main award, EY also handed out acknowledgments to Ognjen Kisin, the owner of Konstruktor Grupa, in the EY Fast Growing Entrepreneur of the Year subcategory, whereas Ivan Bjelajac and Malisa Pusonja were awarded in the EY Innovative Entrepreneur of the Year category ahead of the company MVP Workshop.

– I am very happy and honored to win the 2018 EY Entrepreneur of the Year award. This is not an award just for me, but for the entire team of over 500 employees, people dedicated to literature and culture. Day after day, we are trying to prove that culture has a place in the lives of our citizens and that reading has not been forgotten in the Republic of Serbia. What’s more, reading is becoming a trend, and I am proud that Serbia has something to be proud of compared to the countries of the region, namely, publishing – Papic said.

Dejan Papic founded the Laguna publishing house in 1998 and is also a founder of the Association of Publishers and Booksellers of Serbia and the Delfi bookstore chain. Five years ago, he also founded Radio Laguna. Today, the company celebrates 20 years of successful operations and offers the most current literature. Laguna’s readers’ club has over 600,000 members, and over 1,400 foreign and 300 local authors have chosen Laguna as their publisher. They have published around 4,000 titles so far, releasing around 350 titles a year. This makes for around 1.5 million copies, and such business plans and great personal application have brought Laguna to the leading position in publishing in Serbia.

– We are proud that there were over 30 candidates for this year’s EY Entrepreneur of the Year award. The number of candidates is growing year after year. In the past seven years, we’ve met with nearly 200 entrepreneurs, which employ 18,000 people combined. Last year alone, they had a combined income of RSD 156 billion. These entrepreneurs are the beacons of local economy, and their nominations confirm the credibility of our program – Rakic said.

As the winner of the 2018 EY Entrepreneur of the Year award, Dejan Papic will represent the Republic of Serbia at the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year contest this June in Monte Carlo.

Other finalists in the main award contest, chosen by an independent jury, were Milorad Krstić (Termoinženjering), Darko Marjanović (Things Solver), Saša Popović i Vladan Ostojić (Vega IT Sourcing), Sofija Popara Parmaković (Clever) and Miodrag Radovanović (Podrum Radovanović).

eKapija portal supports most prestigious world award

The EY Entrepreneur of the Year contest has been supported for the fourth time by the general sponsor, ProCredit Bank, which has been operating in the Serbian market for over 15 years with the main focus on the SME sector. Also, the EY Entrepreneur of the Year program is traditionally supported by the Ministry of Economy, RTS, the Biznis & Finansije magazine and the eKapija business portal.

EY Entrepreneur of the Year is the world’s most prestigious award for accomplishments in the entrepreneurial business. What makes this global program different is that it promotes the entrepreneurial spirit and initiative and acknowledges people who have achieved success through their vision, leadership and innovation. As the first and only global award contest of this type, EY Entrepreneur of the Year is carried out on a regional, national and global level in nearly 60 countries.

More information about the program and this year’s candidates can be found at: na: www.ey.com/CS/en/Home/EY-Serbia-EoY

Ernst & Young d.o.o. Beograd

Laguna d.o.o. Beograd

Konstruktor Konsalting d.o.o. Beograd

MVP Workshop d.o.o. Beograd

Udruženje izdavača i knjižara Srbije

Delfi knjižare d.o.o. Beograd

ProCredit Bank a.d. Beograd

Ministarstvo privrede Republike Srbije

Radio televizija Srbija-RTS Beograd

NIP BIF Press d.o.o. Beograd

eKapija.com Beograd

Termoinženjering d.o.o. Beograd

Things Solver doo Beograd

Vega IT sourcing d.o.o. Novi Sad

Clever d.o.o. Beograd

Podrum Radovanović d.o.o. Krnjevo

Red media group doo Beograd

EY

ErnstYoung

EY Entrepreneur of the Year

EY award

Laguna Belgrade

Konstruktor grupa

MVP Workshop

Association of Publishers and Booksellers of Serbia

Delfi bookstores

Radio Laguna

Laguna readers club

ProCredit banka

Ministry of Economy

Radio televizija Srbije

RTS

Biznis finansije

eKapija

Termoinženjering

Things Solver

Vega IT Sourcing

Clever

Podrum Radovanović

EY Fast Growing Entrepreneur of the Year

EY Innovative Entrepreneur of the Year

EY World Entrepreneur of the Year

EY Entrepreneur Of The Year

Dejan Papić

Ivan Rakić

Darko Budeč

Ognjen Kisin

Ivan Bjelajac

Mališa Pušonja

Milorad Krstić

Darko Marjanović

Saša Popović

Vladan Ostojić

Sofija Popara Parmaković

Miodrag Radovanović