Visaris won 2010 Aurea award - Investment of the year in Serbia declared

Vesna Perić hands 2010 Aurea award to Nikola Golović from Visaris

Belgrade-based Visaris is the laureate of the award for the investment of the year - 2010 Aurea, which is granted by business portal eKapija.com for production of universal X-ray machine Vision C. The awards for the best investments in Serbia in 2009 were handed today (March 23, 2010) in Belgrade-based Aeroklub in the presence of numeros representatives of diplomatic corps, business community and media.

Vesna Perić, the Director of the Investment and Export Promotion Agency of Serbia (SIEPA), handed the award to the winner. On that occasion she said the following:

Branko Krstonošić hands award to Tomislav Bakalić from Alltech Fermin

- I accepted with great pleasure to be a member of the jury that chooses the winner of the award for the investment of the year - 2010 Aurea. The role of SIEPA is to promote new investments and the support of media such as eKapija's initiative is always very significant to us. However, promoting Serbia as a good investment location is only a part of our job, while much more important is to provide all the necessary support to new investment project and those companies that already operate in our country. SIEPA also backs direct investments financially by granting between 2,000 and 5,000 EUR to investor for each new job created through investments in the production sector - said Perić.

Nikola Golović, the co-owner of Visaris, said that 2010 Aurea award represented the proof that contemporary technological solutions can be made in Serbia if young domestic companies are offered opportunities and adequate support.

- There is a huge need in Serbia for quality digital diagnostics and we already have the knowledge. Visaris has been developing contemporary technologies in the area of radiology ever since it was formed. We are aware of the fact that top quality, smart and brave solutions represent the right way for appearance of domestic products in the global market and we can tell everybody who has an idea to believe in it and in his or her own abilities. We want to thank the team of business portal eKapija, expert jury and the public for the award we received - said Golović.

(Dragan Mićić hands award to Marko Vekić from Tajfun)

In addition to the main award - 2010 Aurea, eKapija portal also granted two special awards - for the best innovation and the best social utility. The title of the useful investment went to Alltech Fermin's project for construction of waste water treatment unit in Senta, while the best innovative investment is ultra quick simulator for testing software in the area of electrical engineering, which was invented by the team of young scientists from the Faculty of Technological Sciences in Novi Sad, gathered in company Tajfun.

In addition to companies Visaris, Tajfun and Alltech Fermin, other nominees for the award were: L.A.B.B. Group's reusable packaging with RFID technology, auction website Limundo, Grow Rasad's modern nursery for vegetables and car battery White Horse made by Car Battery Factory Sombor.

According to Zdravko Lončar, the CEO of eKapija, each of the seven investments that were shortlisted for this year's award demonstrated high level of inventiveness, social utility and profitability, which are the basic criteria for the award.

Zdravko Lončar, eKapija's CEO

- Just like the last year, we searched for the projects that Serbia can be exceptionally proud of and that can be the subjects of envy of even much more developed countries. I hope that 2010 Aurea award will bring the deserved attention of expert, economic and media public to Visaris' team and that the information on this digital X-ray machine will reach the right address. Also, I hope that the team of young experts from Tajfun will find buyers for their digital simulator, as well as that big factories in Serbia will follow the example of Alltech Fermin, which finds ecology equally important as profit - said Lončar.

The decision on the laureate of 2010 Aurea award was made by six-member expert jury, while the seventh vote was cast by eKapija's readers.

Realization of the project was backed by insurance company Wiener Städtische.

- It was our great pleasure to back eKapija's initiative to draw attention to exceptional domestic investment solutions and reward those who contribute with their quality and inventiveness to the improvement of whole Serbian community. As an insurance company we are proud of the innovations we offer to our clients, and we built the principles of sustainable development, energy efficiency and use of new technological knowledge in the service of man and nature in the foundations of our investment in the state-of-the-arts facility in Belgrade - business center VIG Plaza - said Branko Krstonošić, the President of the Administrative Board of Wiener Städtische.