The company Amko Komerc marked two decades of work this year. The company grew from two stores into a respectable retail chain, which combines retail, distribution and production. The founder and owner of Amko Komerc Muamer Aleta talked about the year of 2015, and future plans for the upcoming year.
You marked 20 years of work in November this year. How was established Amko Komerc, how it felt to work in the post-war years? Can you tell me how you have progressed in these 20 years and what is your greatest success so far?
The success is that we have experienced 20 years and survived in this society. The company was founded in 1995, right after the Dayton Peace Agreement was signed. The idea was to earn a salary in devastated country, and to ensure a normal life.
Amko Komerc started to work on the 15th of November 1995, we started with two business units and 5-6 employees. Year after year, only work, honest work brought us to the point where we have grown into the correct company in B&H. We started developing retail sales and expanding, and we have privatized former UPI in 2006, where thousands of people were working. When I bought them, UPI had 49 employees, none of the stores were working, everything was closed, and today the company is employing around 700-800 people and makes 80 million BAM of income. Successful story. Then we bought Hepok Mostar in 2008. We saw what was going on – too much import, no export, and if there is no new export, there is no new value. Before that, we have started with the distribution and we were producing juices and wine. Later, we took over the stores of Dobrinja Ltd in 2012. Now we have a total of 80 buildings, 1,500 employees and 130 million of annual income. If someone asked me in 1995 how far I would get, I would not believe that it would turned out like this.
How was the year of 2015 for Amko Komerc?
Year 2015 was one of the most successful years since the establishment of the company. We had a lot of projects and investments this year, which were aimed to strengthen the cooperation with local producers. We launched the project “Days of domestic products,” which is aiming to strengthen the market position of quality B&H products, and we visited a number of the most successful B&H production companies as part of the project, and arranged special discounts for the end consumer. We celebrated 20 years of successful work this year as well.
You have 77 facilities and 1,500 employees, are you planning to increase that number?
Of course, in the period behind us, expanding worked out quite good for us. We are planning to expand across the country, but in controlled manner and in accordance with the possibilities and needs of the market.
(Source: E. S. H./Klix.ba)
