Supervisory Board

Jože Mermal (born 1954) comes from Ljubljana and holds a university degree in economics. Since 2019, when BTC introduced the one-tier management system, Mermal has been acting as the president of the company’s management board. He had been successfully managing BTC for over 26 years before that, having worked creatively in many responsible managerial positions since 1978.

He initiated and managed the project of restructuring and transforming public warehouses into a successful, dynamic, and rapidly expanding company that has also become one of the largest business, shopping, entertainment, recreation, culture, and innovation centres in Europe: BTC City. As the founder and strategist of BTC, an advanced company, he has been supporting investments in development to reach the company's long-term goal: to make BTC an open company for future generations. Under his management, the company has established connections with long-term business partners through various activities and is becoming a unique business ecosystem, seeking new opportunities and finding challenges in a wide society, globalisation, innovation and sustainable development.

In partnership with the Municipality of Ljubljana, he was involved in setting up a 230 hectare urban regeneration project for the city of Ljubljana, the Šmartinska District Partnership. Crystal Palace, the Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel, and Ikea were constructed as part of the project. He also collaborated with the Municipality of Ljubljana in setting up the Intermodal Logistic Terminal (ILT) Ljubljana.

Under his management, ABC Accelerator was established in 2015. Its main function is the development of a start-up business ecosystem. He also holds key managerial functions in various sports organisations and at international sporting events.

In its wider environment, BTC has received many awards and prizes for various projects under his management. He participates in cultural, sporting, educational, humanitarian, and scientific events, which he supports and is personally involved in due to his wide range of interests.

He has received several awards for his work, including Manager of the Year in 1997 and the Primus award for excellence in communication in 2001 by the Slovenian Public Relations Society. He is a keen supporter of culture and received the title of Cultural Patron of the Year in 2011. His visionary management and creativity at BTC earned him the Vision Manager Award in 2012, which is conferred by public relations experts from the South-Eastern Europe. In 2013, the Municipality of Ljubljana conferred the Marjan Rožanc Award on Mermal for sport achievements. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia awarded him for exceptional business and entrepreneurial achievements in the category of large companies for 2013. Under Mermal's management, BTC has become the first – and, to this date, the only – Slovenian company listed on the London Stock Exchange. In 2015, he received a gold plaque from the Managers’ Association of Slovenia for more than two decades of support, followed by the highest managerial lifetime achievement award, the Best Manager of South-East and Central Europe 2016 award, which is bestowed by the Independent Agency for the Selection and Promotion of Managers. Mermal was awarded the title of a 2017 honorary citizen of Ljubljana, the highest honour bestowed by the Municipality of Ljubljana, for his contribution to the renown, significance, and development of the municipality and its inter-city and international relations. At the selection of best managers and companies from Central and South-Eastern Europe, he received the Best Manager and Best Company in Europe lifetime achievement award in 2019. In 2020, the management board of the Managers’ Association of Slovenia awarded the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award in Management to Mermal.