Ana Luković, Commercial Manager of "Multicon Engineering" – I don't do things which I cannot be the best at

(Ana Luković)

- I think that each of us is formed by the family. Everything beyond that is upgrading and it comes as a result of lucky or unfortunate circumstances. As far as circumstances in my life are concerned, there have been much more lucky ones and I can say that I was very fortunate when it comes to the family – Ana Luković, Commercial Manager of "Multicon Engineering", pointed out at the beginning of the conversation with eKapija's journalists.

My small big childhood team

- When you were born and grew up in a small town like me, you are maybe not able to enjoy all the advantages of a big city, but you can definitely have a peaceful and happy childhood. Just like every other daughter, I was my dad's favorite and I am still his favorite to the date. I was the only child for a long time and then, in a very short time, I got two brothers. I can not say that I was delighted since they somehow threatened to take over my central place beneath the sun. And then I realized that it was "tilting at windmills" and that I had better get used to them as soon as possible. As the eldest child, and the strongest, of course, I decided for the principle of - dictatorship. Those were the good years, everything was going as I wanted. And then the boys grew up and got stronger, so that democracy entered our home – said our collocutor.

- It could be said that I started to show the first of my managerial skills at that time. That is when the theory that a goal and a team are necessary for success was confirmed. When you take the path, you must persuade all the team members that the goal you are heading for is, actually, a common goal that, once achieved, brings pleasure to all of us. With years, that team of mine was only growing and the aims were becoming harder to achieve, which was only creating a bigger challenge. I joke a little, but I can point out with pleasure that that small team from the childhood has remained my great lifetime stronghold. Regardless of the fact that my brothers live in Niš where they study, the bond we have is getting stronger and stronger, and no success is complete without them, and no problem seems insolvable when we are together.

Police Experience

- I do not think that I am a drastic careerist, but I have always been the best at everything I do. I simply do not do things that I am not good at. I was always the best student with all excellent marks in both primary and grammar school. I think that there was one year when I didn't win the title of the student of the generation. At the time when the students' protests started in Belgrade, I decided that I should organize the protests in my grammar school. The Principal, who was also a friend of my parents, tried to bring me to reason to return the students to the school, but his attempt was futile. However, I ended in the police station with a group of my friends from the "organizational committee". Our parents had to come and take us home and I thought that if I survived that, there would be no insurmountable problems in my life from that point on. I still remember the pedagogical beating I got from my mom. And, of course, we resumed with our protest the next day.

Parties at Faculty of Mechanical Engineering

I have always been good at natural science. I won numerous medals at math contests, so that a technical faculty was a logical choice. Why I chose mechanical engineering, that I do not know. I would have, probably, graduated from Faculty of Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering or Technology in the same, short time. But, at the time when I was enrolling in the faculty, the best parties were thrown at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. I was working for one year as an expert associate at the department for theory of mechanisms and machines, but I realized that scientific work was not dynamic enough for me.

"Beoinox"

As a trainee, I started to work for "Beoinox", the private company that dealt with production and assembling of equipment for food industry. Shortly after, I started to run assembling by my own.

That is very interested job because you are to solve all engineering problems at the moment and on the spot. You must improvise very often and make decisions quickly because there is no time for you to ask some older and more experienced colleagues for advise. I think that it was the job that helped me mature the most. Unfortunately, assembling was heavy duty and not very healthy, so that I looked around me and started to think about what I wanted to do in my life. There wasn't much space for advancement in that company and, since the company was distributing German equipment "Westfalia", it turned out that I was very good at sales, which pointed to my further development.

"Trimo Engineering"

I worked for two years as the Executive Manager in Trimo Engineering", the company that deals with design and assembling of steel structures and roof and facade panels. It was a great experience for me to work in an international company where you can meet various cultures, people and methods of work - from England to Turkey, from Spain to Russia.

"Multicon Engineering"

And then I realized that I needed to expand a picture a bit when it comes to civil engineering. I realized that I am interested in the building phase that precedes installation of pillars and in the one that follows covering of the house. I met with company "Multicon inženjering" while working on the project for development of EXPO XXI hall in New Belgrade. It was "love at first sight" – young company that covers the entire process of civil engineering. All the phases were there - from the search for location, collecting of the required building permits, drawing of plans and construction of the facility to, maybe the most important link in the chain - use permit. After almost three years that I have spent as the team member, I think that it was the right choice ! In the meantime, "Multicon" increased number of employees by 500%, as well as turnover. Daughter companies were opened in Croatia and Montenegro, as well as office in Moscow....

Growing number of investors want us for their strategic partners. We are developing together. I would only like to mention that we are developing a retail center in Krnjača at 40,000 square meters for Croatian market chain "Pevec", and that we already have contract on strategic cooperation for the next 10 facilities whose construction in Serbia and Macedonia will be financed by this investor.

Another important partner is Israeli Plaza Centers, with which we started cooperation on development of trade center in Kragujevac at 70,000 square meters and, after few months, we signed another contract for the center that this company develops in Belgrade, this time at 90,000 square meters.

We are working on development of hotel complex and business building in Block 11a with architect Boris Podrecca (professor at the University of Stuttgart and member of SANU), as well as on the project for new Museum of Science and Technology in Dorćol. Kazakhstan Bank, with which we implemented project for development of hall EXPO XXI and "Holiday Inn" hotel in the Third Boulevard, offered us partnership in implementation of projects for development of 15 hotels all around Russia! We are currently working on the hotel projects in Tula, Volgograd, Kazanje, Krasnodar and Omsk.

Atmosphere in the Company

We spent half of our lives at work and it is very important for us to be satisfied with our jobs. If we see the job as an entertainment and challenger, our approach is positive and top results are inevitable. We in "Multicon" are proud of positive atmosphere in the company. The Management recognizes good innovative ideas of young people and apply them to the operations. We are constantly investing in our staff and I think that that is the key to success. That is what separate us from similar "players" in the market. I can say that we are the only private company on this territory that can provide full service to the investors in field of real estate.