Here are the winners of the Awards Gala 2021 by The Diplomat-Bucharest!
Petre Barac
Posted On January 29, 2021
The Diplomat-Bucharest wants to thank all the participants and leaders that joined us last evening to The Awards Gala 2021. We also send a big thank you to our partner and friend, Colin Lovering for his support!
Congratulations to all winners for their inspiring leadership, passion, and commitment of Moving the Things Forward!
The Event benefited from the support of GOLD PARTNERS Wipro, Tinmar Energy, Hidroelectrica, PARTNERS Romanian Energy Council (CRE), Transgaz, Borsec, Sea On and MEDIA PARTNERS Outsourcing Today, Automotive Today, Financial Intelligence, Economistul, Romania Durabila, Club Economic, Bursa.
These awards are just a symbolic recognition of all the efforts and leading resilience of companies, employees, teams, and managers shown during our common story written all along 2020.
SMART CITY ADMINISTRATION – CLUJ-NAPOCA CITY HALL
This first award is dedicated to a smart administration as a forefront runner in terms of smart cities in Romania. The use of European funds and the innovative ideas have been implemented for the development of a modern, “green” public space, adapted to the current technological and urban mobility realities.
Emil Boc, Mayor of Cluj-Napoca City Hall, said: “Thank you so much. It is a great honour and pleasure to be together with you and to receive this wonderful award for my community. It’s a sign of recognition of our vision based on Eco, not Ego. We are working with the business environment, with the civil society, with universities in order to have the best possible quality of life.”
IMPROVING ROMANIA’S CAPITAL MARKET STATUS – BUCHAREST STOCK EXCHANGE
The award is for the implementation of the FTSE Russell decision on the promotion of the Romanian capital market to the status of Secondary Emerging Market, started with September 21, 2020. The efforts made in recent years by the regulatory authorities together with the profile associations and the members of the Romanian Association of Banks and the Bucharest Stock Exchange have led to a significant improvement of the image of the financial market in Romania.
Radu Hanga, President BVB, said: “For us 2020 was a special year, despite all dificulties linked to the medical situation. There are 25 years since the Bucharest Stock Exchange. It was the year of promotion to the emerging market status, a year with record transaction of about 4 billion euro.”
THE ROMANIAN TECHNOLOGY BREAKTHROUGH ACHIEVEMENT – MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT & INFRASTRUCTURE
As we already know, Bucharest has been elected in 2020 to host the European city of The European Cybersecurity Industrial, Technology and Research Competence Centre. This is a real breakthrough success for Romania, Bucharest and the cybersecurity capabilities and also for the institutions that put a lot of effort and strategy in achieving this goal.
Dragos Preda, State Secretary for Telecommunications at Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, said: “I dedicate this award to the former Minister of Transport Lucian Bode and my colleague Alexandru Nazare, who is currently the Minister of Finance, and also to the former PM Ludovic Orban. I also want to thank all the colleagues from the IT&C sector.”
OUTSTANDING LEADERSHIP – BOGDAN BADEA, HIDROELECTRICA
This award goes to the manager of a company that proved its commitment to green energy development through one of the latest projects: the acquisition of Crucea Wind Farm and STEAG Energie Romania from STEAG GmbH. Developed by STEAG and commissioned in 2014, Crucea Wind Farm is one of the most modern and best-maintained onshore wind farms in Romania with an installed capacity of 108MW.
Bogdan Badea, President of Board of Directors Hidroelectrica, said: “I want to thank you on behalf of Hidroelectrica for the award. 2020 was a crossroads year for Hidroelectrica. We took the first concrete steps in the direction of diversifying the production portfolio by acquiring the wind farm from STEAG. It is an important step for us and a signal that Romanian companies can have the agility and mentality of other big players in the field of energy.”
INSPIRING LEADERSHIP – MIHAI BOLDIJAR, BOSCH ROMANIA
This award goes to one of the most active managers in its industry and it is an acknowledgement for his leadership and people-oriented attitude, especially in difficult times such as we had in 2020. He says that “great leadership and good communication skills go hand in hand, and it goes without saying that leaders are expected to be great communicators”.
Mihai Boldijar, General Manager Robert Bosch Romania & Bulgaria, said: “I am very happy to receive this award. We will continue to inspire by right leadership our associates, our employees, and we will continue to provide quality services for our customers, and our partners.”
OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY – ELECTRICA
The award goes to a company in energy for the successful completion of the merger of its three electricity distribution companies within the Group and by this, demonstrates its commitment to operational efficiency in the energy sector in Romania.
Corina Popescu, General Manager Electrica, said: “Thank you very much. I’m very honoured to receive this award on behalf of my team. This is only the first step in our project to merge the DSO activity within the Electrica Group. The hard work will start from now on. I hope that in 2021 we will meet all our goals.”
STRATEGIC COMPANY FOR THE ENERGY SECTOR – TRANSGAZ
This award reaffirms a company’s sustainable development after it has been rated to BBB- stable outlook by International Rating Agency Fitch Rating. This rating ensures that the national strategic goals for domestic and international gas transmission in conditions of efficiency, transparency, safety, nondiscriminatory access and competitiveness.
Elisabeta Ghidiu, Director-Strategy & Corporate Management Direction, Transgaz: “I would like to congratulate the organizers and thank them on behalf of our general manager, Mr. Ion Sterian, for this award. It’s an honour and we will continue to deliver consistent performances within the energy sector.”
LEADING ENERGY INTEGRATOR – TINMAR ENERGY
This award goes to the largest privately owned energy company in Romania, a leader in the field of electricity supply. It is also the largest private energy supplier in Romania.
Carla Parnica, Marketing & PR Manager, Tinmar Energy / Vice President at Tinmar’s Foundation, said: “It was a pleasure to join this event, I want to congratulate all the speakers of the debate. It was a very good content. We have the mission to become one of the largest modern utility services company in the region. I want to thank you for this award on behalf of my team. It’s an honour and it makes us more responsible to continue to provide the best quality services.”
E-MOBILITY COMMITMENT – MOL ROMANIA
This award goes to a company which last year celebrated 25 years since the opening of the first gas station In Romania. Today, it has a network of 240 service stations across the country and employs over 250 people in the administrative offices while over 2700 work in services stations across the country. The company is currently in the ongoing process of transforming from a fuel retailer into a full service provider for clients on the move. The change comes in line with changes in consumer behavior and the development strategy, the company says.
Camelia Ene, CEO MOL Romania, said: “Thank you very much for the award. It’s an honour for us, as it represents a wonderful and relevant recognition of MOL Romania’s efforts in the field of electromobility.”
LEADERSHIP IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT – VASTINT ROMANIA
This award goes to the developer and owner of the five highest ranked LEED Platinum buildings in Romania, for its sustainable office projects that, by location, design, green certifications and addressability proved to be efficient and durable also in challenging business times.
Antoniu Panait, Managing Director Vastint Romania, said: “Thank you for this award. Timpuri Noi Square and Business Garden Bucharest were built by a handful of people, very dedicated people. During this times, they are also managing the buildings and making them a safe place to be for all our customers. I want to thank the team for the dedication and the hard work during all these past years.”
THE INTERNATIONAL EXPANSION – DRUID AI
In just few years, the company founded in 2018 proves to be one of the big players in the global conversational AI landscape in Europe and worldwide. Having gained over 50 enterprise customers in just 6 months, this company is on its way to becoming one of the big players in its field.
Liviu Dragan, CEO & Founder DRUID AI, said: “I’m extremely proud to receive this award. Although 2020 was a difficult year, we managed to grow in Romania and internationally. We want to conquer the world with our platform. Thank you very much!”
SUSTAINABILITY IN BUSINESS – VODAFONE ROMANIA
This award recognizes the sustainable strategy of one of the largest players in telecom in Romania. Through the local businesses and sustainable business strategy the company says that that they will make the greatest impact on five of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Razvan Dumitru, Business Development & Strategy Director Vodafone Romania, said: “Thank you very much. I am truly honoured to receive this award on behalf of the team from Vodafone Romania. I would like to congratulate all the leaders and companies for their awards today, and also The Diplomat for this initiative.”
INNOVATION FOR EXCELLENCE – GENESIS PROPERTY
This award recognizes the pioneering development of The IMMUNE Building Standard™ – a blueprint to improve the immunity of office buildings designed to help combat health risks in the workplace, reduce fears, particularly in the context of pandemics and build trust among employers and employees in their efforts to safely return to the office.
Gavin Bonner, Vice-president Genesis Property, said: “The first thing I would like to do is to thank the host and the previous speakers of this wonderful event. I think it’s of great importance especially during these times for information to continue to reach the business leaders within the marketplace. Genesis Property is honoured to receive the award for the IMMUNE Building Standard in the innovation for excellence category.”
“WE CARE TOGETHER” FUNDING PROGRAM – SOCIETE GENERALE GLOBAL SOLUTIONS
This award goes to a funding endeavor who supported Simplon Romania in launching the project: Future Ready – we develop the skills of future generations. The project is supported by the “We Care Together” funding program.
Evelyn Lutas, Communication Specialist Societe Generale Global Solution Centre, said: “Thank you very much for this award. We are honoured that you have awarded us for our first funding program that we ever launched within Romania.”
FINANCIAL EDUCATION – BCR
This award goes to a bank that communicated and innovated a lot in terms of financial education for its customers and general public in the latest years. Through programs such as ” Scoala de Bani” or one of the most recent, „Financial mindfulness: how to improve your relationship with money. Financial education program in 21 steps”, the company proved to be an efficient financial educator and communicator.
Andreea Deliu, Head of marketing and communication BCR, said: “We all have difficult relationships with our money and this is why we taught we will all need a financial education program and especially a mindfulness program. Thank you very much for appreciating our efforts and for giving us this award.”
TECHNOLOGY DEAL – WIPRO
This award is for a major transaction that equals a significant strategic digital and IT partnership deal with METRO AG, the leading global wholesale company that is redefining the food service distribution industry. As a part of this transaction, the awarded company will take over the IT units of METRO AG in Germany and Romania.
Vivek Bakshi, Managing Director, Wipro: “Thank you for the recognition. It’s been a team effort and a very long process. Culture change is the most difficult part and that is going to start this year. The hard work starts now. Thank you!”
EXCELLENCE IN TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION – CONTINENTAL ROMANIA
Three high-tech solutions from this company were praised as outstanding at the world’s largest technology trade show (CES 2021): the transparent trailer function, the ARS 540 premium long-range radar sensor and the Ac2ated Sound speakerless sound system, developed in cooperation with Sennheiser.
Cristian Enculescu, Head of R&D Passive Safety & Sensorics Continental Romania, said: “I want to thank The Diplomat for this award in behalf of our team from Continental. Our ambition is to grow our R&D centres and high quality production units in Romania.”
EDUCATION SUPPORTER – TRANSELECTRICA
This award goes for two companies which collaborated for the inauguration of the first SCADA laboratory within the Polytechnic University of Bucharest. The laboratory was inaugurated at the opening of the fifth edition of the International Conference “Regional South-East European Conference – RSEEC 2020”.
Adrian Goicea, Chairman Supervisory Board of Transelectrica, said: “Thank you very much for this award. We are honoured to receive such a wonderful recognition.”
EDUCATION SUPPORTER – SIEMENS ENERGY
Petru Rușeț, General Manager of Siemens Energy Romania, said that technology is important, but it is the people who make the difference: “That is why the training of the next generation of energy specialists is one of our main objectives.”
“Many thanks for this award and for the invitation to this event. We are a very young company, but with a huge heritage in Romania. One of our objectives is to energize the society, and we are investing a lot of value in people, which is the main fortune for our company,” Ruset said.
FINTECH OF THE YEAR – FINTECH OS
This company is constantly ranked among the most important fintech players at CEE level and its technology accelerates innovation initiatives within banks and insurance companies and empowers them to extend their digital distribution channels.
Sergiu Negut, Co-Founder Fintech OS: “I am really proud of this award and I thank you for it. I’m even more proud of my more than 200 colleagues, and almost 50 clients on 4 continents. We all deserve better financial services. Thank you everybody, let’s hope for a better 2021!”
CONTRIBUTION TO PLANETARY DEFENSE MISSION – ATOS ROMANIA
This award with this very interesting name reflects one of the most breakthrough tech & IT projects run by a company. Last year, it has been announced that a Romanian team of digital transformation experts are taking part in HERA, the first planetary defense mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) & NASA. The goal is to determine how asteroids can be deflected so that they do not hit Earth.
Valentin Moleavin, Head of Space& Avionics, ATOS Romania: “This is really an honour for us. We started this activies some 8 years ago when Romania was promoted to the status of full European Space Agency member state, but emotionally it was actually the passion and the domain enthusiasm which was driving us. Space is about collaboration beyond geographical boundries. SUPPORTING GAME CHANGERS – IMPETUM GROUP
This award goes to a real game changer when the coronavirus outbreak bursted. The company decided to act instead of situation and wait and came up with the idea of creating CONFIDEX, a complex and unique survey aimed to X-ray the effects of the crisis on the Romanian economy. What they have done through this project:
• Analyzed the feedback of 900 managers
• Organized 5 online debates with entrepreneurs and CEOs with over 200.000 views and reached to 2.5 million people.
Andrei Cionca, CEO Impetum Group, said: “Thank you for this award. I think that the economy will change dramatically, and managers of companies in distress need to understand exactly the way the economy is changing. That’s why we started this study to show the perception of managers about this moment and about the future.
STRATEGIC COMPANY FOR THE ROMANIAN ECONOMY – NUCLEARELECTRICA
The winner of this category has been included in the indexes of FTSE Russell indexes global provider in the context of the Romania’s capital market transition from Frontier Market status to Secondary Emerging Market status starting with September 21, 2020. As result of this, the company’s shares will be also included in several global indexes.
The full recording of the event that includes the Leaders’ Debate session can be found here:
https://lnkd.in/eD-P2kR
