Vote for Investment of the Year in Serbia - We present you finalists for 2014 Aurea Award

In late March 2014 the business web portal eKapija will present the Aurea Investment of the Year Award for the sixth consecutive year.

Eight projects are shortlisted for this year's award as they best meet the following three criteria: innovation, social utility and financial potential. Visitors of the web portal aurea.rs can vote for their favorites online as of today.

This year's finalists are as follows:

Eko fungi – Production of edible mushrooms using cellulosic residues

Alwag – PET packaging recycling plant

Desing – Production of cherry-based fruit preparations

Kuerk – Making products from recycled tire

Eco hostel in Uzice

Henkel – New production facility for Bref cleaning products

HCP – Symphony POS sales terminal

Elnos BL – Factory for producinng compact prefabricated concrete SF6 substations Biosco CS

Visitors of the official web page of the Aurea Award will be able to cast their votes by March 19th, and the final decision on who wins the 2014 Aurea will be made by an expert and unbiased jury. Members of this year's jury are as follows: Foreign Investors Council (FIC) CEO Ana Firtel, Innovation Fund Director Dr. Ljiljana Kundakovic, Director of the Institute of Economic Sciences Dr. Dejan Eric, SGS Beograd CEO Marinko Ukropina, Chairman of the Basler Osiguranje Managing Board Vladimir Medan, and World Bank Regional Project Manager Oliver Orton.

Zdravko Loncar, the CEO of eKapija, noted that the interest in the Aurea Award was growing bigger every year, adding that 8 of the 30 innovative projects nominated for the award went through to the finals.

- I invite all our readers to vote for their favorites for this award presented by eKapija, to get familiar with eight good ideas and inspiring investments in our country, and to see for themselves how much can be achieved if the will, knowledge and skills are put into something.

The Coface insurance company is eKapija's partner on the 2014 Aurea project.

- We are very glad that such good projects are shortlisted for the 2014 Aurea Award in these difficult times for business in Serbia. Coface actively participates in direct promotion of Serbia's economy, primarily through the international project Excellent SME that we implement in partnership with the Serbian Chamber of Commerce. This project aims to recognize successful companies, promote and connect micro, small and medium-sized enterprises throughout the region. As a strategic partner on the 2014 Aurea project, Coface wants to communicate a strong message and encourage companies to continue to develop new ideas, originality and quality projects that can lead to the creation of new values and give a general contribution to the overall business environment in Serbia - said Djordje Zivanovic, the director of the Coface company in Belgrade.

In addition to the main award, eKapija will also present two special awards: for the best innovation and for the best social utility.

Which of this year's finalists will win the prestigious Investment of the Year Award will be known March 26th.