As a successful furniture exporter, Elizabeta Josipovic is one of a new breed of Bosnian entrepreneurs who have moved beyond the bitter ethnic rivalries that have stunted the country‘s development. But she remains in thrall to a government that, nearly 15 years after Bosnia was riven by Europe‘s deadliest fighting since World War II, she says still spends much of its time and money playing politics instead of helping mid-sized firms such as hers breathe new life into a still stagnant economy.
Started in 1998 in the Bosnian Serb Republic town of Prijedor with a staff of just four, Josipovic‘s Sconto-Prom today employs around 500 workers at three production plants and seven shops across the country, selling to outlets in the European Union and beyond. Josipovic, whose main client is Swedish chain IKEA, plans further expansion.
„We can‘t just sit and wait for others to do the job for us,“ she said in her furniture shop in the nearby town of Banja Luka. „We are here on our own.“
A small, energetic woman and a rare female face in Bosnia‘s business community, Josipovic says exporters are crying out for state help at a time of economic crisis when only the most persistent and talented operators can survive on their own.
„There are no state laws,“ she said. „It seems that our political structures are not interested in creating a state based on law.“
Bosnians are due to vote in parliamentary and presidential elections on Oct. 3, campaigning for which -- along with prolonged rivalry between the country‘s two autonomous regions -- has delayed privatisations and other reforms, experts say.
new breed - nový typ/druh/plemeno
to be in thrall - být v područí, být závislý
to stunt - brzdit, zarážet
to cry out - volat po, dožadovat se
persistent - vytrvalý, houževnatý
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