In the beautiful setting of the National Museum in Belgrade, Diplomacy&Commerce magazine celebrated its 7th anniversary in the presence of numerous guests and friends. As a special segment of the celebration, Diplomacy&Commerce gave out 20 awards to individuals, companies, and institutions that made an outstanding contribution to the economic, social, and humanitarian development of Serbia
The president of Color Press Group, which is the publisher of Diplomacy&Commerce magazine, Robert Čoban, said on the occasion “Historians say that in the place where we are now standing, there used to be the famous ‘Dardanelli’ tavern, where Belgrade artists, actors and poets came at the end of the 19th century. The tavern was named after the famous strait between Europe and Asia, the place of meeting and dialogue between the East and the West. Then, at the beginning of the 20th century, the “Dardanelli” tavern was demolished to make way for the building of the Fund Administration, which was later moved into by the Mortgage Bank. Since 1952, the National Museum has been located in this building. Today, exactly 120 years since this building is on the site of the former “Dardanelli” tavern, artists, bankers, diplomats, and those who marked the same place are here again. Diplomacy&Commerce magazine’s mission is to be a place of dialogue about different views, like the Dardanelles, a meeting place of East and West, about politics, economics, banking, diplomacy, and art.” „We believe that dialogue in our region is also important which is why some of tonight’s laureates come from neighbouring countries. We are also pleased to announce the imminent release of Diplomacy&Commerce Montenegro, the magazine’s Montenegrin edition. Thank you to everyone who has been participating in the creation of this magazine for the past 7 years, thanks to Ruža Veljović, who with her team laid the foundations of what is today the Diplomacy & Commerce brand; thanks to Dragan Nikolić and the team that edits the magazine today; Jelena Jahura and everyone who contributed to making this evening like this. Of course, special thanks to all patrons, jury members, participants in this year’s selection for the D&C Awards, as well as laureates from previous years who will present the awards to this year’s winners tonight! We believe that freedom, human rights, and social dialogue are among the greatest values that should be fought for, so we invited the relevant minister from this area to address you. Enjoy this wonderful evening and see you at one of the next events in our organization!“, Robert Čoban added.
Minister for Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue, Tomislav Žigmanov, pointed out the following: “I think that we, in Serbia, should be proud of this magazine, which has a very serious, quality approach to all topics from politics, economic life and, of course, diplomacy, and because of which we have a complete picture of the diplomacy’s activities and their culture, as a window into the countries with which Serbia has friendly relations”.
Award winners were decided by an eminent Jury consisting of Marko Čadež, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia; Boško Vučurević, President of the Chamber of Commerce of Vojvodina; Brankica Janković, Commissioner for Equality; Tijana Palkovljević, Director of the Matica Srpska Gallery; Nenad Milić, Executive Director of IAB Serbia; Biljana Stepanović from Nova Ekonomija magazine; Nada Filipović, Association of Brewers of Serbia and Danijela Popović-Jurić from Red Communications.
As of this year, the laureates from previous years presented awards to this year’s winners.
The following awards were given away:
The Diplomacy&Commerce award for the best socially responsible campaign was given to the NIS Company, for their programme “Together for Community – Birth of New Hope”. Vadim Smirnov, Deputy CEO of NIS received the award which was presented to the winner by Robert Jenovai, CEO of Nelt Serbia.
The Diplomacy&Commerce award for support to cultural institutions and artists was awarded to Raiffeisen Bank for sponsoring the Ervin Wurm exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Belgrade. At the ceremony, Biljana Jotić, Director of the Museum of Applied Arts, presented the award to Zoran Petrović, Chairman of Raiffeisen Bank’s Executive Board.
The Diplomacy&Commerce award for humanitarian activities was awarded to the Jahorina Olympic Centre for their project “A thousand skis for our children”. The award was presented by Svetlana Glumac, D&C laureate from 2017, while Sanja Ćeremidžić received the award on behalf of the Jahorina Olympic Centre.
The Diplomacy&Commerce award for green economy and sustainable development projects was awarded to the Green Energy 360 Company for building the largest rooftop solar power plant in the Balkans. The company’s Director Vladan Komatović received while Tamara Veselinović, the laureate of the 2022 D&C Award, from MK Group, presented the award.
The Diplomacy&Commerce award for business progress was awarded to the Srbija Voz Company for the successful launch of the Belgrade-Novi Sad fast railroad line in 2022 and the renewed trust in Serbian railroads. Srbija Voz’s Director, Ivan Bulajić, received the award on the company’s behalf and the award was presented by Miloš Dukić from Telekom Serbia.
The Diplomacy&Commerce award for digital transformation was given to Ada Mall for their Loyalty app and receipt self-scanning project. On behalf of GTC Serbia, Danijela Vasić, received the award, which was presented by Milica Begenišić from Yettel, laureate of the 2017 D&C Awards.
The Diplomacy&Commerce award for improving business conditions and economic environment was presented to Tatjana Matić from the Republic of Serbia’s Development Fund. The award was handed over by Tijana Koprivica from Delta Holding, also the laureate of the 2019 D&C Awards.
The Diplomacy&Commerce award for boosting bilateral cooperation was awarded to the Indjija Tourist Board for their project “Serbian Cappadocia”. The award was received by Milan Bogojević, director of the Indjija Tourist Board, while the award was presented by Katarina Pribićević and Radojka Bošković in from McCann Belgrade. His Excellency Hamy Aksoy, Ambassador of the Republic of Turkiye to Serbia, who contributed to the implementation of the award-winning project and the successful cooperation between Cappadocia and Indjija, was also present at the awards ceremony.
The Diplomacy&Commerce award for contribution to the development of local self-government and community was awarded to Zvonko Bogdan Winery, for supporting local community development projects in Subotica. Dragana Vasiljević accepted the award on behalf of the winery, while Nenad Milić, Executive Director of IAB Serbia and this year’s jury member, presented the award.
The Diplomacy&Commerce award for contribution to the development of civil society went to the Mozzart Company for their campaign “One Hundred Wells for the Community” implemented in Kenya. Jelena Zrnzević received the award on behalf of the company, while the award was presented to her by Biljana Bobić Subin from Heineken Serbia.
The Diplomacy&Commerce award for the best media relations in the institutions category was given to the Olympic Committee of Serbia. The award was received by Đorđe Višacki, Secretary General of the Olympic Committee. The prize was presented by Milica Milanović from Nestle, the laureate of the 2022 D&C Awards.
The Diplomacy&Commerce award for the best media relations in the business category was given to Air Serbia, for their communication with passengers and the media during the air traffic crisis in the summer of 2022. The award was received by Arsen Rudan, Air Serbia’s Corporate Communications Director, while the award presenter was Aleksandra Kosanović, from Erste Bank, the laureate of the 2022 D&C Awards.
The Diplomacy&Commerce award for the best media relations in the embassy category was given to the Embassy of Great Britain. William Hopkinson, head of the Embassy’s Political Department, received the award on the Embassy’s behalf. The award was presented to him by Brankica Janković, Commissioner for Equality and member of this year’s jury.
The Diplomacy&Commerce award for the promotion of social activism was awarded to the Ana and Vlade Divac Foundation. Ana Divac received the award on the Foundation’s behalf. The award was presented by Mirko Janketić, Director of the Children’s Village orphanage in Sremska Kamenica.
The Diplomacy&Commerce award for the most professional media person went to Gorislav Papić, the presenter of the Serbian Broadcasting Corporation (RTS). The award was presented by Marija Matić, from Direct Media United Solutions, the laureate of the 2017 D&C Awards.
Diplomacy&Commerce magazine’s special award for the most successful business person abroad originating from Serbia was awarded to Blagoje Antić from DHG Holding AG. The award was presented by Boško Vučurević, President of the Vojvodina Chamber of Commerce and member of this year’s jury.
Diplomacy&Commerce magazine’s special environmental protection award went to AstraZeneca. The award was received by Dejan Lakovski, Regional Director of AstraZeneca’s Balkan Cluster, and the award was presented by Nada Filipović from the Brewers Association of Serbia, who was also a jury member this year.
Diplomacy&Commerce magazine’s special award for partnership for progress was awarded to Heineken Serbia, for their campaign “When you order another round of drinks, take your foot off the gas“, which was launched in cooperation between Heineken and the Serbian Automobile Association. The award was received by Dragan Lupšić, Corporate Affairs Director at Heineken Serbia, while the award was presented by Milena Trajković from Generali Osiguranje.
Diplomacy&Commerce magazine’s special award for regional cooperation and understanding was awarded to the Youth Sports Games organization. The award was received by Zdravko Marić, Regional President of the Youth Sports Games Organization, which was presented to him by Jelena Trninić from the Coca-Cola Company, also a D&C Awards laureate in 2017, 2019 and 2022.
Diplomacy&Commerce magazine’s special award for life’s work in philanthropy was awarded to Princess Jelisaveta Karađorđević. The award was given by Robert Čoban, President of Color Press Group.
The event was supported by Telekom Serbia, Coca-Cola Company, AstraZeneca, Heineken, and Generali Osiguranje.