Prague, 16 February 2011 – Brothers Adam, Mariusz and Valdemar Walach of WALMARK, a.s. won the prestigious Ernst & Young Czech Entrepreneur Of The Year 2010. They received the winning trophy this evening in Žofín palace from the hands of the first Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic Karel Schwarzenberg and Magdalena Souček, head partner of Ernst & Young that has been organizing the contest in the Czech Republic from 2000. The Technology Entrepreneur of the Year was awarded to Václav Muchna of Y Soft Corporation, a.s. and Pavel Křížek of Ochrana fauny České republiky o.s. (Fauna Protection of the Czech Republic) received the already seventh title of the Czech Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2010.
“Success in business does not go without saying - apart from good ideas and hard work, it requires the will to take a big risk and not to be afraid to assume responsibility. Since a publicly declared success is still not popular in the Czech Republic, we do not often hear about honest and hard working businessman. We hope that our contest could change this view in the future as such businessmen deserve support and recognition,” says Magdalena Souček, Ernst & Young head partner in the Czech Republic.
Profile of the winners
Adam, Valdemar and Mariusz Walach, WALMARK, a.s.
Brothers Walach could not imagine not starting a business after the revolution. “We knew that there was the first chance to do something on our own, in our own way. We were enthusiastic and did not admit a failure – we thought that we could always start again. There were three of us and we thought that was our asset.“
They founded WALMARK with the aim to do business with computers but when the markets opened they found out they could trade in anything. They, however, never wanted to be mere businessmen transporting goods to and fro. They always wished to deliver an added value and, therefore, built their own manufacturing plants in the Czech Republic and in Slovakia. Thus the beverages division (Relax), pharmaceutical division (trading in and manufacturing food complements and medicaments) and the agricultural products division were established within WALMARK. The driving force was the vision of becoming the biggest food complements trader in the Central and Eastern Europe. As such, they decided to concentrate on the pharmaceutical division. They sold the division of beverages (Relax), subdued the agricultural division and concentrated all their activities and finance on boosting the pharmaceutical division and other investments into the manufacture of food complements and medicaments. From Martians to Proenzi – their product portfolio includes about 300 items. WALMARK has subsidiaries in eight European countries and exports to more than thirty countries – the group reaches a turnover of about EUR 100 million.
Any owner or manager of a company holding not less than a 25 percent ownership interest could participate in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2010 contest. He must be responsible for the performance of his company and be an active member of its top management. The company must exist for at least 2 years.
About Entrepreneur of the Year
The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year contest selects the most successful pioneers in the field of business. It was founded by Ernst & Young in the USA in 1986. Over the years, it expanded into many countries of the world and, at present, it is the only worldwide recognized contest of this kind regularly organized already in almost 50 countries of six continents. It aspires to present to the public outstanding personalities in the field of business who could be an example for young, starting businessmen. Entrepreneur of the Year is an international contest, which means that the assessment criteria for the individual participants are comparable in all the countries. In 2011, already the twelfth round of the contest will be organized by Ernst & Young in the Czech Republic. For details see the web-site www.podnikatelroku.cz.