Jože Mermal

President of the Supervisory Board

Jože Mermal, born in 1954, comes from Ljubljana and holds a university degree in economics. Mermal has been acting as the president of the company’s management board since 2019, when BTC transformed it’s business structure to a one-tier management system. He had been successfully managing BTC for over 26 years before that, having worked creatively in many responsible managerial positions since 1978.

He initiated and managed the project of restructuring and transforming public warehouses into a successful, dynamic, and rapidly expanding company that has evolved into one of the largest business, shopping, entertainment, recreation, culture, and innovation centres in Europe: BTC City. As the founder and strategist of this modern company, he has been supporting investments in development to reach the company’s long-term goal: to make BTC an open company for future generations. Under his management, the company has established connections with long-term business partners through various activities and is becoming a unique business ecosystem, seeking new opportunities and finding challenges in the wider society, globalisation, innovation and sustainable development.

In partnership with the Municipality of Ljubljana, he has been involved in setting up a 230 hectare urban development project for the city of Ljubljana, the Šmartinska District Partnership. The Crystal Palace, the Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel, and Ikea have been constructed as part of the project. He has also collaborated with the Municipality of Ljubljana in setting up the Intermodal Logistic Terminal (ILT) Ljubljana.

Under his management, the ABC Accelerator was established in 2015. Its main function is the development of a start-up business ecosystem. He also holds key managerial functions in various sports organisations and at international sporting events.

Under his management, the BTC company has received many awards and prizes for projects that include the wider social environment. Mermal actively and personally supports cultural, sporting, educational, humanitarian, and scientific events.

He has received several awards for his work, including Manager of the Year in 1997 and the Primus award for excellence in communication in 2001 by the Slovenian Public Relations Society. He is a keen supporter of culture and received the title of Cultural Patron of the Year in 2011. His visionary management and creativity at BTC earned him the Vision Manager Award in 2012, which is conferred by public relations experts from the South-Eastern Europe. In 2013, the Municipality of Ljubljana conferred on Mermal the Marjan Rožanc Award for sport achievements. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia awarded him for exceptional business and entrepreneurial achievements in the category of large companies for the year 2013. Under Mermal’s management, BTC has become the first – and, to this date, the only – Slovenian company listed on the London Stock Exchange. In 2015, he received a gold plaque from the Managers’ Association of Slovenia for more than two decades of support, followed by the highest managerial lifetime achievement award, the Best Manager of South-East and Central Europe 2016 award, which is bestowed by the Independent Agency for the Selection and Promotion of Managers. In 2017, Mermal was awarded the title of Honorary Citizen of Ljubljana, the highest honour bestowed by the Municipality of Ljubljana, for his contribution to the renown, significance, and development of the municipality and its inter-city and international relations. In the selection of best managers and companies from Central and South-Eastern Europe, he received the Best Manager and Best Company in Europe lifetime-achievement award in 2019. In 2020, the Management Board of the Managers’ Association of Slovenia awarded the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award in Management to Mermal.