The Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Serbia and the Serbian Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications have presented the traditional awards to the most successful domestic product and corporate brands at the closing ceremony of the “Best of Serbia 2016” campaign, held at the Novi Sad Fair’s Master Centre. Awards were presented to representatives of 22 local companies in 25 categories.
The “Best of Serbia” Award in the FMCG category went to Bambi’s Plazma, while the winner in the beverage category was company Nektar and in the household chemicals category, the award was presented to company Henkel Serbia’s Merix detergent.
The best household product is Smederevac, produced by Milan Blagojević from Smederevo. Extreme Intimo was awarded in the category of clothing, textiles and footwear, while in the category of manufactured goods and business services the award was presented to Novi Sad-based company NIS Petrol.
Premia, owned by Delhaize, was declared the best commercial brand, while Bio Panon, organic beef, was judged to the best in the category of newly introduced brands. The best foreign brand that produces in Serbia is Gorenje, while the best local product protected with geographical indications of origin is Maruška – a homemade ajvar pepper chutney from Leskovac.
The best corporate brands in the category of fast moving consumer goods are Sunoko, for food, and Nektar, for beverages, while in the category of chemicals, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and other products, the winner is – Niš-based Philip Morris Operations. Alfa Plam, from Vranje, won the award in the category of home appliances and durable consumer goods, while the award for the clothing category went to Požarevac-based Luna. In the category of manufactured goods and business services, the award was presented to NIS AD Novi Sad, while the award for the best service company went to Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport. In the category of small and medium-sized service companies, the award went to BEL MEDIC General Hospital, while recognition for the most successfully introduced start-up company went to Kabinet DOO Sopot.
The best exporters are Alfa Plam AD Vranje, in the category of large companies, and MikroElektronika DOO Belgrade, in the SME category. The Drina Regatta was declared the best tourist event, while the Kopaonik Business Forum received the award for the best economic event. This year also saw the jury award a special award to company Vega IT Sourcing DOO, which achieved outstanding business results in the Year of Entrepreneurship.
“In this campaign we have built in and connected the tradition of one of the most prestigious national awards with contemporary trends in doing business and on the market, knowledge and the objectivity of a science-based methodology with modern trends and attractiveness and financial market indicators with the views of consumers, the expert public, business partners and the jury,” said Marko Čadež, President of the Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Serbia.
“The companies that carry the “Best of Serbia” award are the core of the new Serbian business elite,” said Rasim Ljajić, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications.
“During this year, around 11 billion dinars is available through incentives for investment and about 18 billion through various programmes for training, educating, starting up a business or similar activities,” said Serbian Economy Minister Goran Knežević.
“The “Best of Serbia” is a kind of identity card for the market game and a significant segment of intangible, but very important added values that are collectively known in the world today as a brand,” said Igor Mirović, President of the AP Vojvodina Government.
“In 12 years, both the state and systems have changed, but the Serbian Chamber of Commerce has succeeded in maintaining this event, which is an indicator of how good and qualitatively it works,” said Novi Sad Mayor Miloš Vučević.
