Zofija's Story

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ZO

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SimplePhilosophiesforTough

Times

ZOFIJA MAZE J KUKOVI


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Zofija Mazej Kukovi Zofija's Story.

Simple Philosophies for Tough Times.


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CIP - Kataloni zapis o publikaciji

Narodna in univerzitetna knjinica, Ljubljana

929Mazej Kukovi Z.

005-055.2

MAZEJ Kukovi, Zofija

Zofijas story : simple philosophies for tough times / Zofija

Mazej Kukovi. - [Velenje] : author, 2009

ISBN 978-961-245-725-9

245884928


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ZOFIJA MAZE J KUKOVI


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4 | t a b l e o f c o n t e n t s

INRODUCION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

MY SORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9My roots. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Mother and ather like Mary and Joseph on their way

to Bethlehem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Te hydro-meteorological station and a cottage

in a mountain town . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

My rst business steps in early childhood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Te elementary school, the rst ski slope and learning methods

in the early days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Te road to the valley. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

My secondary school and rst internationalisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

An empty house and a stable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

A prot centre and my rst trip abroad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Slovenian independence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

A single mother leading a company as it heads towards bankruptcy . . 41

Meeting with kings and the rst big contract in Slovenia . . . . . . . . . . 45

Te rst meeting with scientists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Inormation technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

My ootball story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Creating a better world . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56Where theres a will theres a way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Feelings when you are let alone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

How i accelerated the plot against me and became

the 25% shareholder o Esotech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70


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5

MANAGEMEN WIH VISION AND COURAGE . . . . 79

At the dawn o the new millenium. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

81Fire o lie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Morning minute meetings and care or health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

In times o crisis, motivation is the sport o victory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

When health lets you down in a crisis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

September 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Importance o emotions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

How we can improve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95Act or the public good . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Competitiveness and alignment with the european union . . . . . . . . . . 100

On the way to the european union . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Women in the EU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Vision and partnership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Building a bridge o trust. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119


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6 | I N T R O D U C T I O N


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INTRODUCTIONI decided to write my rst book when I reached ty. Over the years Ive

written and delivered speeches in ront o my close and extended amily aswell as at political and social events. When I became a CEO in 1992, I decid-

ed that I would always speak without notes. Later, as Health Minister o the

Republic o Slovenia my teen years o public speaking paid o. Reading o

a sheet o paper would make it very dicult to encourage people who are in

the hospital and sick.

Writing my story, I hope to encourage people to know that there is always a

way. Big steps orward in lie always require hard work, persistence and love.

Having wealthy parents with high social status, living in the big city or being

a man or woman is not the ultimate success guarantee. What matters is that

people love what they do and they enjoy making a dierence.

Tis book goes back to when I started my career, my motherhood and mydreams. I had a chance to experience and work through the transitional times

o Slovenia and o the company that I managed or teen years. While many

people think that our success happened overnight, in reality it took a decade

or us to get here.

I ound my way through lie as a single mother with two daughters, CEO

o an engineering company and an active member in the community. I

had an opportunity to be a part o the process when Slovenia irst en-


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8 | I N T R O D U C T I O N

tered the European Union and world markets, to experience great expec-

tations, deeats and actions that required vision, courage and clear goals.

On July 3, 2007 during my business trip in China, I was unexpectedly and

abruptly released as CEO. Like a popular Slovenian story, this experience was

a heavy burden on a cart driving up the slope o my lie, but at the same time

it brought me additional strength and ultimately broadened my knowledge.

Tere is no looking back; the path is wide open toward the uture.


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MY

STORY

PART ONE


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10 | M Y S T O R Y


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Te Mazej (Savinek) amily is known or a historic moment. My athers

brother, Alojz, married into the Brlonik amily. He was the biggest landown-er in the area beore the Second World War. He owned Smrekovec and some

hundreds o hectares o land. His lie ended sadly. He was a Yugoslavian army

ocer and was shot in the beginning o the Second World War in Dravograd.

His whole property was burned down by the partisans in 1943. Te re also

took the lie o his eldest son, Karel. Nowadays the old lime trees and the ru-

ins are all that remains o the amily house that was once perched on the slope

o Smrekovec with a beautiul view.

F a t h e r

Me l h i o r

a r o u n d 1 9 3 0

Javorje village is located 10 km from my home village, Bele Vode.

Zavodnje village is a neighbouring village of Bele Vode in the foothils of Smrekovec.

Smrekovec (1577m altitude) is a peak of volcanic origin on the eastern edge of the Smrekovec moun-tain ridge. The name comes from the pine trees that are covering the region.

Mozirje, only 25 km from Bele Vode, is a small town with the beautiful Savinja river and a history datingback to 1106 AD. My sister Anka lives there today.

Bele Vode is a small mountain village of 300 residents (700m altitude) in the foothills of Smrekovec. This

was the home of my parents Melhior and Helena. My six brothers and sisters and me, the youngestin the family. I still spend most of my time here today.

Sveti Kri is a hill (1054m altitude) 30 minutes walking distance from where we lived in Bele Vode. Its abeautiful destination considered a holy mountain where hundreds of pilgrims gather each year.


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MOTHER AND FATHER LIKEMARY AND JOSEPH ONTHEIR WAY TO BETHLEHEM

It was in the spring o 1955. My brothers and sisters Pavel, Anka, Joica,

Marina, Lenka and Lojz were curiously looking at their mother, putting on alot o weight. Only the older ones knew she was expecting her seventh baby.

All the women during that time gave birth at home, which is what my mother

did with her six children. Regulations changed when I was about to be born so

she, being 45 at that time, had to go to a hospital in rna na Korokem.

Mo th e r

a n d a t h e r

a t t h e i r

w e d d i n g

c e r e m o n y


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She and my ather walked or almost hal a day crossing the hills to rni Po-

tok beore they nally arrived at the hospital in rna na Korokem. Ater I wasborn, my mother and I stayed a couple o days with my athers sister who lived

in the town. Tey took me to a local church where I was baptised and then

we started with our journey back home to her six children and a worried hus-

band. We spent a night in the only house that stood on the road going back.

Tis is how I contracted lice or the rst time as a baby and my brothers and

sisters had to take care o it rst thing when I was brought home.

A ew years ago, I walked along that same road with my sisters and brothers.

It took us a long time and it was not easy during the entire hike we were

thinking about how our mother was able to manage it during her last days o

her pregnancy. And how dierent it is now only hal a decade later.

Mo th e r

L e n c a

a r o u n d 1 9 50


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Tere were only two sons in the amily and when my mother brought me in

the house, my oldest brother looked at me and said with great disappointment,Just another chicken. Tis was an old Slovenian expression at the time. Since

some o my brothers and sisters were a lot older than me, they treated me like

a toy. I made sure they knew I was around all the time by crying and disturb-

ing their work. I was even more annoying when they started alling in love; I

always wanted to be around them and listen to their secret conversations.

In the evenings my mother used to pray aloud and my ather went to bed. Weall knew that he was not very ond o daily prayers but nobody dared to say

anything. My sisters and brothers always tried to avoid pray while I used the

time or planning new tricks.

THE HYDRO-METEOROLOGICAL STATION

AND A COTTAGE IN AMOUNTAIN TOWNMy mothers parents were wealthy armers and very religious. She wanted

to become a teacher, but in the period between both World Wars it was im-

possible or anyone living in a mountain village to continue with their studies.

She was eager or knowledge so she took courses in sewing, cooking and good

conduct. She married my ather one year beore Hitler attacked our country.

rna na Korokem is a small town of 3600 residents, in the region of Koroka.


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In 1948, our big amily moved to a new house that nowadays could be called

an eco-house in Bele Vode. On the outside there were wonderul warm logs

and on the inside, it was made o reeds and lime. Te foor was made o pleas-

ant-smelling pine wood and the main room had a wood-red oven. My moth-er and ather were working hard on the arm so we had enough to eat and were

able to go to school.

Te Ljubljana Hydro-Meteorological Institute asked my mother i they could

install a weather station near our home and a station or monitoring the sur-

rounding habitat. In this way two o my mothers dreams came true: she got

an opportunity to learn new things and she could do it at home while still

earning a bit o money.

M e e t i n g o o i c i a l r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s

o h y d r o - m e t e o r o l o g i c a l s t a t i o n s ,

a r o u n d 1 95 0


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Te station was still unctioning in 1981 when my mother passed away. She

taught all her children how to observe nature, how the habitats change in dier-

ent seasons, how to accurately measure daily rainall and how to keep statistics o

all weather changes. Since 1968, we also began using a lightning counter. At that

time, I was already ollowing my mothers work and later my sister Ankas work

as they cautiously carried out the measurements. I was able to make enough to

pay or my books during my school years with recording the measurements and

wrote reports or the Ljubljana Hydro-Meteorological Institute.

Te most pleasant memories o that period were o those bright mornings

when I did not have to get up early. I wrote my weather reports rom a warm

house and marked the amount o snow, rain and lightning rom the station.

Numerous times I had to step out in the snowy morning and measure the

amount o snow at a certain spot. I did the same when it was raining. But I

ar more enjoyed when I had to observe plants and trees: the rst blossoms

o cherry trees, the rst green leaves o beeches, the greening o larches, the

blooming o pines, snowdrops, primroses, daisies, kingcups, and grasses.

O u r h o m e i n B e l e V o d e


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20 | M Y S T O R Y

MY FIRST BUSINESS STEPSIN EARLY CHILDHOODIn a amily with many children o dierent ages, one learns how to share

love and possessions, how to learn rom each other and how to protect each

other rom the world outside.

My sisters and brothers were already going to school so I learned a lot rom

them. I learned how to read and write beore I started school. On my rst

day, I was so excited that I ran the whole way to the old building where our

school was located. We only had one notebook, one pencil and our rst

reading book. On the rst day our teacher, ine, asked us to draw one page

o horizontal lines in our notebook at home. o the disappointment o my

mother and teacher, I so much wished to do the homework that I drew lines

in all the pages and I destroyed my one and only notebook. I had to erase

everything because I could not get a new one. But the notebook was nev-

er the same again and each time that year when I opened it I saw the crum-

pled paper.

As with all the girls, I wanted to have beautiul things. Ever since I can re-member, I admired the high heels that my sisters wore. When I was ve years

old, I opened a shoe cleaning shop one hundred meters rom our house next

to a small bridge that my ather made over the creek. It was just ar enough so

that no one could see what I was doing with the shoes. First, I cleaned them

and then I tried them on and pretended to be a model walking up and down as

I sometimes saw on V. Te shoes were much too big or me, but having such

a vivid imagination I did not care at all. In the evening I would bring the shoes

back into the house, but I would hide my avourite pair in the bushes and take


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them with me out to the pasture the ollowing day. Tere I had enough timeand peace to enjoy walking the grasslands wearing the most beautiul pair o

shoes. In order to avoid problems with logistics I hid them in a shrub each

evening and covered them with leaves so that I could use them the ollowing

day. And then I almost got into trouble.

It was my sisters prom night and she was desperately trying to nd the shoes

I had hidden in a shrub. All o a sudden everybody started to search or the

shoes so I did not have an opportunity to bring them back into the house. My

W i t h m y o l d e r s i s t e r

A n k a ,

a r o u n d 1 9 59


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sister had to wear her old pair o shoes, and I could still pretend to be at a ash-

ion show on the pasture.

Yet another invention took place when I was in my second year o school and

we had a new teacher, Sonja, who had just moved to our village. All my class-

mates admired her since she was young and beautiul and had long nails paint-

A l l i v e s i s t e r s : M a r i n a , L e n k a ,

A n k a , m e a n d J o i c a


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ed red. I only thought about one thing: how to invent red nail polish or my-

sel. My sisters were always nicely dressed and had many admirers, but theydid not use any make-up and they did not polish their nails. Tereore I had

to use my imagination. At home, I ound a white, oily substance that we used

or colouring the wall around the wood-red oven. Te children were always

sitting next to the replace so my ather had to protect it several times. I used

the colouring that was let as my oil base. Ten I took my dry red aquarelle

colour, crushed it and added it to the oil base. Tis is how I invented a nail

polish, which I applied to my nails with a brush. When my school riends no-ticed my beautiul nails they also wanted to look like our teacher. I made the

same polish or them, and I earned enough money to buy chocolate.

My best seller, however, was my homemade chewing gum series. At that time,

real chewing-gum was very dicult to get. We used to collect a special kind

o pitch rom the pines, which was a light pink colour, and we chewed it like

gum. But it did not contain any sugar. I ound some materials in my athers

basement, put some sugar into the mass and wrap it. It looked like candy and

tasted sweet. Tis became another successul selling product until I ran out

o material.

Smoking was also part o my youth. I collected clematis with our neighbours

children. Ten we dried it and smoked it and elt very mature. But it was di-cult to orget the bad taste that lingered in our mouths, so the excitement

was very short term.

And then I nally ended up in trouble. My our sisters had a lot o admirers.

Tose who were turned down were usually very persistent, and they were kind

to me. At that time, photos were very much appreciated by boys and I knew

that my sisters had many o them. So I took one o my sisters photos and I sold

it to a boy she did not like. It made him very happy, and I earned some money.


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24 | M Y S T O R Y

But I did not manage to buy anything because my sister ound out what hap-

pened and made sure I realized that this was not right. So I had to give backthe money and return the stolen photo.

A human be ing becomes creati ve when he or she

does not l ive in luxury; he or she is in touch with

nature and enjoys the freedom of creativ i ty.

THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL,

THE FIRST SKI SLOPE ANDLEARNING METHODS INTHE EARLY DAYS

We lived only a good kilometre rom the elementary school in Bele Vode.

Tis was not ar compared with some o my classmates who had to walk orover an hour to get there. Sometimes in winter ater a heavy snowall, my

brother had to make a tunnel in the snow that went rom our house to the

woods so that I could go to school.

Our teacher, Joe, taught us how to ski in the rst year o school. Our school

was the only one in the area that provided students with skis with leath-

er bindings and without metal edges. We all learned how to ski and when

there was enough snow, I skied the whole way school. Te ski slope next to


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the school was well maintained rom daily use. Beore skiing competitions,

we would prepare the track or the entire day instead o practising skiing and

having class. On Sundays, competitors came rom neighbouring villages, and

we watched them compete. Ater everything was nished, we got our turn on

the slopes. Many times I came home soaked and rozen ater a whole day inthe snow, but I do not remember ever getting sick because o it.

Tere was a pine orest a ew metres away rom the school in which there was a

big, fat clay playground where we played dodge ball. Other ball games were not

really popular. Our school also had a huge sports hall. On Sundays it was used or

cultural events. We could watch theatre and admire our local amateur actors in-

cluding my sisters and brothers. In the evenings we would go there to watch V

as we didnt have one at home. Tat was a real miracle to us: to hear and see at the

M y s c h o o l m a t e s i n 1 9 6 7


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same time. When I watched the beautiul anchor women, I wanted to become

one o them. A big dream or a girl rom a 300 person village in the mountains.

Tis was also the time o Pioneers and itos governance. When I was seven, I

was in the second grade. One Sunday morning our teacher took us to Velen-

je, the biggest town in walking distance rom where we live. We walked or

ve hours to see ito and Hruscov visiting. When we arrived, a massive crowd

o people was already waiting or them. Being the youngest ones, we were al-

lowed to stand in the ront row. We had a great view and very high expecta-tions. Te girls, who were inside a big circle o people, received big bouquets o

carnations which I had never seen beore. I was eagerly observing them when

suddenly the girl with the biggest bouquet approached me. I wanted to hold

the bouquet, but at the same moment a girl standing next to me grabbed the

fowers. I was very disappointed. But I orgot all about it when ito came on

the stage and we were all calling out to him, ito, ito, ito. We were so en-

thusiastic about what happened that we did not eel tired; we orgot about the

blisters and hunger as we walked 20 kilometres back home the same day.

At the end o each school year we usually received awards or being good stu-

dents. In my second year our headmaster, Joe, gave me a book called, In

the World o Nature or being the best student that year. In this book I read

about the wonders o the world, dierent animals and plants I never heardo beore. I read it over and over again. It was my only source o inormation

about nature rom other places in the world. National Geographic and simi-

lar educational V programs did not exist yet. I started to picture Arica and

Asia and other countries ar away rom my home.

Josip Broz Tito was was the leader of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1945 until his

death in 1980. At that time the pinoeer movement of the country was very active. The Union of Pio-neers of Yugoslavia, was established in 1942.


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THE ROAD TO THE VALLEYIt had been rumoured or some time that we would have to continue our

education ater the ourth grade in the nearest city o otanj where the pro-

grams were more qualitative. It was in the 60s, during a time o industriali-

sation when people started moving rom rural areas to the cities in search o

jobs and what was considered better lie. In Bele Vode the last generation o

children was about to nish the eighth grade and apparently there were no pu-pils in the sixth and seventh grades. Tereore it was decided that the rest o

the pupils would be divided into two groups. Te younger ones would stay in

the village school and those who were in the th grade would go to otanj.

Some o the important armers rom Smrekovec were opposed to the deci-

sion. Tey did not want their children to go to the valley because they said it

was too ar, and the children should be closer to home so they can help with

work on the arm.

Only a ew o us ended up walking every day to the bus station in the val-

ley. I had to walk much urther now. I walked or one hour in the morning

and more than an hour in the aternoon as I went up the hill to our village. I

did not like to take the bus because I could smell oil vapours everywhere that

made me eel sick every time. Te majority o my schoolmates were staying inotanj with their relatives while I usually went home every day. By this time,

my parents were already alone on the arm as my sisters and brothers were all

working in other towns. So I was the only one to help them during the week.

I only stayed at my sisters place in otanj when there was a lot o snow. I was

very araid when I had to leave early in the morning when it was still dark out-

side. Te road through the orest seemed even longer and there were almost

no cars in our village so no one could oer me a ride. I was so happy when-

ever armers would go to a store in otanj and I had company or the walk. I


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28 | M Y S T O R Y

had enough time or daydreaming. When I came home, my mother was cook-

ing and lunch was ready. Everything smelled delicious, and it was so warm by

our wood-red place that I always orgot about the cold. Tere were animalsin the stable, and I loved each one o them. In the aternoons and evenings I

helped with the household chores, did my homework and read. At the end o

the week, when my sisters and brothers came home, we sang and played. My

sisters cooked, sewed and baked, while my brothers helped my ather with the

work on the arm.

When my elementary school was approaching it was time or decisions about

what to do. My parents asked me to stay at home, get married, and take care o

W o r k i n g o n t h e a r m


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MY SECONDARYSCHOOL AND FIRSTINTERNATIONALISATIONAter the long winter o 1970, it was time or me to decide which entrance

exam I should take and which school should I attend? My sister, Lenka, whowas a teacher in Velenje told me that the rst generation would start study-

ing electronics in the secondary schools in Velenje and that the entrance exam

was in June.

Why should I study electronics? What interest did I have in this subject?

I thought o the electric ence that my ather bought when the children were

no longer at home to watch or the cows. When I was a child, I spent a lot o

time as a shepherd, reading books in the pastures, since there was not much

other work to do. I thought that an electric ence was an excellent invention. I

imagined that I would be able to invent something like that by studying more

about electronics, and I took the entrance exams.

It was a hot day in June, and there was a crowd o ourteen-year-old kids at

the ront door o the high school in Velenje where the entrance exams were

scheduled. I did not know anyone because they were all one year younger than

me, and I elt really uncomortable since there were only a couple o girls and

hundreds o boys. I was nervous about taking the exams. Tey were dicult,

but I passed and was so excited about it. My parents on the other hand didnt

cheer my success and my ather remained disapproving or the whole year I

was in high school.


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In high school, I stayed at my sisters place and oten babysat her two children.

I spent my days studying, cooking and cleaning. Every Friday I went back to

my parents place. I worked very hard on the arm every weekend because my

parents were no longer as strong as they used to be. In winter, I skied, climbedmountains and went to parties. When I was 17 I ell in love. At the same time

I broke my leg while skiing and I had to use crutches.

And as things were not complicated enough I got pregnant. When I entered

my ourth year o high school, I had a belly, which was rather shocking to

everyone since it was the 70s. My parents were very worried and upset. I de-

cide to get married to a man I was madly in love with at that time. I deliv-

ered a baby girl I named Mihela in the winter. My teachers and school riends

F i r s t g e n e r a t i o n o g r a d u a t e s r o m t h e

V e l e n j e s e c o n d a r y s c h o o l o e l e c t r o n i c s


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were very understanding, and I managed to graduate with the third best re-

sults in the school.

Many times I had to leave early rom school to breasteed. My shirts weresometimes wet because I had so much milk. But that didnt really bother me,

but, in the ollowing two years I could not accept the way I was supposed to

live my lie, as a young mother and a housewie. I wanted to be creative and

achieve something more or my amily. I nally decided to leave my husband

and return home to my parents and take Mihela with me.

W i t h M i r a n a n d M i h e l a , 19 7 4

Velenje is a municipality with 35.000 residents next to otanj. It was one of the fastest growing townsin Slovenia after the Second World War because of its coal mining and manufactruing industries.


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AN EMPTY HOUSE AND ASTABLEWhen I was nineteen years old, I started working in Velenje, a ast growing

city due because o its coal mine development. Every morning I rode to work

on my athers motorcycle until I bought an old red Zastava 750. Having a car

made my lie much easier since I could drive my daughter to kindergarten inthe morning and pick her up in the aternoon. I was very sad and conused

because o the divorce; I elt sorry or my daughter who did not have a ather,

and I was alone because I had lost contact with my riends who had gone o

to college. I couldnt aord to go to college, as I had to take care o my daugh-

ter and both parents. And then it happened

My ather passed away, and my mother, Mihela and I stayed alone on the

arm. Tere was a lot o work, and it was dicult or us women. I worked

very hard in an attempt to orget about my hopeless situation. I started study-

ing inormatics at night and this became my new passion which I could look

orward to. I graduated, got a job with a company called ESO and an apart-

ment in the city. I worked in the department or designing and management

o transport technologies, dosage and storage o light materials. My motherdidnt want to leave the arm, so I was commuting almost every day back to

the hills with Mihela.

And then I ell in love and decided to get married again. By that time, I had

lived alone with my daughter or ve years, and I learned that I can do a lot by

mysel. However, it eels nice to have someone who cares about you. We had a

big wedding. Mihela was a little bit jealous and wanted to sit between me and

my husband during the ceremony. I believed that it did not matter that she


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was the daughter o my previous husband. Te only thing that mattered was

that we accepted each other and that we were a amily.

My happiness was short-lived. Only seven days ater the wedding, my moth-er passed away. She had a heart disease, and I always elt as i she was strug-

gling to survive until I, her youngest child, became independent. I had a eel-

ing that she simply stopped ghting. I lost both my parents when beore I was

25 years old. I miss both o them still.

Ater the uneral, we emptied the house and sold the animals. It was not possible

or us to live in Bele Vode and commute to work every day. I became pregnant

or the second time and I gave birth to a daughter, Ina. My happiness at being a

M y i r s t c a r


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35

mother again helped me orget a little o the pain o the past events. Home, am-

ily and an interesting job in development kept me excited. Not or long though.

Something inside me was pushing me to do more. I was becoming more and

more interested in the development and automation o technological processes soI signed up to study electronics. I graduated and got promoted at work.

ime quickly few. My daughters were hard working and creative. Tey were

involved in many aterschool activities so I was able to balance my job and

home roles. On the other hand, my relationship with my husband became

more and more complicated. Ater twelve years o marriage and many sleep-

less nights, I decided to divorce him. I had elt the whole time as i I were a

single mother despite the act I was married. My amily meant a lot to me, and

W i t h B o r i s a n d I n a , 19 8 3


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36 | M Y S T O R Y

I believed it was a union that enables a wie, a husband and children, to reach

their goals in lie. Apparently, I had an idealised image, and thereore I expe-rienced even more pain and disappointment. I was let alone with my daugh-

ters, ready to ght or their uture and or the job that would pay enough or

us to have a decent lie.

A PROFIT CENTRE AND MYFIRST TRIP ABROADWhen our company encountered nancial problems and our biggest buyer

decreased its number o orders, the company was reorganised as prot centres

and I became director o one o them. We decided to try expanding rom the

current Yugoslavian market and ound Dutch partners to work with.

I went to Berlin where we negotiated the renovation o the our-hundred-year-

old Hotel Europe in Leningrad. We were oering electrical installation servic-

es and control o communication systems, which was only a small part o thewhole project but a major step or us. Te negotiations lasted two days, and

at midnight I signed my rst and very important contract as a small compa-

ny rom Slovenia. We reached the agreement or implementation o construc-

tion work in Russia that would last three years and would be paid in Swedish

crowns due to high infation rates.

I did not know German very well at that time so I had many problems with

pronunciation and translation. Te project was a very big challenge or us. I

Zastava 750 was a car made in the Serbian Zastava Automobile Factory also know as Fio.


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37

was worried that there would not be enough work at home so the pressure was

on. I somehow managed to drat a contract worth several million German

marks. Every ew hours, new negotiators arrived to try to convince me that

the contract price was too high. I tried not to pull back. Tat is when I learnedthat it is good to take chances and walk on the edge. In the end I realised that

the negotiations were just a game to test my persistence. When we nished, I

was so exhausted that I ran to my room and threw up.

Tis contract was so important or our company because the value o oreign

currency was growing on a daily basis. At that time, there was ten percent in-

fation in Slovenia. We continued our partnership with the Dutch company.

Tey soon gured out that we had a qualied and cheap workorce. We con-

C o - w o r k e r s i n t h e E S O D e v e l o p m e n t

d e p a r t m e n t , 1 97 7


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tinue working in Portugal, Poland, the Netherlands and Germany. When one

o our employees was injured in an accident at work, we paid or the damages,which were higher than the amount we earned in one year at that location.

Working in East Germany we had to obtain a work permit. Te Dutch com-

pany did not want to be bothered with the procedure, and we didnt really

know how to manage all the paperwork or a one month on site project. It was

our rst time in East Germany. We were already struggling with deadlines,

or example three weeks or building a sports hall. We had a great deal o trou-ble getting the necessary permits and trying to ollow their schedule. Many

times we had to start construction early in order to complete the construc-

tion by when we would have to leave the country. Our Slovenian colleagues

in Munich would help us get the permits since they knew exactly which con-

struction sites we needed the permits or and how much time we had let or

construction.

One day the inspectors came or a visit, they stopped the work at the con-

struction site and sent our workers home. Tere was an anonymous complaint

led against me claiming we were bringing people to Germany illegally. Po-

lice came to my oce in Slovenia carrying handcus. I elt awul. My law-

yer and I presented them with a pile o documents, and we tried to convince

them o how dicult it was or us to get the work permits and that we wereorced to start work early in order to keep clients and survive. Te police in-

vestigators knew that someone wanted to make a lot o money with the work

permits, and he sent them to us so that our company and its executives would

lose credibility right when we were having dicult times. So they decided to

dismiss the case.


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SLOVENIAN INDEPENDENCESlovenian independence was a euphoric and unorgettable time which

brought new hope and high expectations or the uture. At the same time we

knew that Yugoslavia would not let us go easily.

On the day o independence I was dining at a restaurant in Velenje with our

business partners rom Berlin. You could eel the excitement all around. TeHead o the territorial deence and the Head o the civil protection units

joined us at dinner and we all celebrated independence day together. We

promised our German partners that we would help them to saely cross the

border since the news was already broadcasting threats rom Belgrade. We

went home very late that night. In the morning I drove to the city o rbovlje

to discuss the coal transport system at the local coal power plant. During the

meeting we could hear the planes o the Yugoslavian armed orces. I hurried

home and when passing over Mrzlica hill heard the planes again. I turned on

the radio and realized that the situation is serious. Te war had begun.

I always wished that I would learn about war only rom my parents who expe-

rienced the Second World War. I went home to pick up my daughters and took

them to the house where my parents used to live in Bele Vode. Even though Iwas still married, my husband was almost always away, so we were used to take

care o things ourselves. Te house was only a ew kilometres rom the Austri-

an border so we knew that the armed orces were not ar away. Te next couple

o nights were especially terriying, and I was araid to sleep since I was alone

there with the girls. Fortunately things resolved soon and Slovenia was ree.

Te independence o Slovenia was a new impetus and brought Slovenian peo-

ple new sel-condence. In the ollowing teen years the challenges and eco-


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40 | M Y S T O R Y

nomic situation kept brining all my brothers and sisters together. And as with

most amilies, we went through our own troubles. We lost two beloved mem-bers, Mira and Bojan, who died tragically in an accident. Te emptiness we

all elt ater has never gone away.

C e l e b r a t i n g S l o v e n i a s in d e p e n d e n c e

w i t h m y b r o t h e r s a n d s i s t e r s

Trbovlje (population 16,290) is a town and municipality in central Slovenia. It is known for its rich depo-sits of coal and one of its three power plants with the tallest chimney in Europe.


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41

A SINGLE MOTHERLEADING A COMPANYAS IT HEADS TOWARDSBANKRUPTCYEven beore independence, in 1989, I already knew that the company I was

working or was in stagnation and that there was no uture or us. I had a hard

time deciding whether to leave or to stay on and watch it slowly sink. As one

o the ew women in the company, I asked or a promotion to sales director.

Te business was already divided in two parts, one with progressive views and

the other doomed to ailure.

I knew that I needed to earn money to support my amily and that I also need-

ed to ensure that my employees would have jobs in the uture. Te company was

slowly running out o projects and new orders since major markets in Yugosla-

via were not there or us anymore. Te atmosphere inside the company was in-

creasingly tense. Tere was still enough work or two thirds o the employees

because o orders rom the Velenje coal mine. Te companys managers wereworried because they would have to let 250 employees out o 800 go. o avoid

major confict, they decided to split the company into two parts: one part that

oered services and technologies to Velenje coal mine, and the other part, that

was dependant on electrical and mechanical installation services and had no cli-

ents. I belonged to that second part. Te company was divided on December 31

1992. As there was nothing really to lose anymore I agreed to become the direc-

tor o Eso Montaza (now called Esotech). Te team that split project the com-

pany also transerred the majority o debt to our company. Te ar-sighted law-


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42 | M Y S T O R Y

yers gave us some empty buildings without the land on which they stood. We

were let without a plan and without machines or equipment. All we had wereobsolete, empty buildings which could not serve any purpose.

I summoned the reserves o strength that I had developed years ago when I

had worked as woman in a technical eld surrounded by men. Tose early

challenging experiences prepared me well to overcome seemly insurmounta-

ble obstacles.

Te 90s were a decade o transition. Slovenias independence brought impor-

tant economic changes. My experience in sales had taught me that the only

way to survive is to broaden your client base and extend your connections.

I pushed or oreign opportunities and partnerships with other companies

which we could cooperate with. Te majority o the employees were experts

in the eld o mining. Tey did not really believe in my plan.

Tere were a lot o unemployed people in Slovenia at that time. By now, we elt

the other side o our independence. Investments were rare so the only real so-

lution was to nd business partners abroad. From our projects in East Germa-

ny, Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia, I had contacts with a Dutch company, Rem-

co, which wanted to enter the Yugoslavian market. Remco specialized in the

construction o sports and industrial buildings. Tey had shown me the val-ue o cost eectiveness and what it means to pass responsibility and risks to

those who have no power. O course we were the ones without the power be-

cause we had no choice but to do business with them, even i we had very low

prots. We did not nalize million dollar business contracts; we only received

small orders with high risks.

Personally, I believed that it was possible to turn things around or the best,

against all odds, but only with the ull support o my team o co-workers. I


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43

never thought about giving up, even when a payday came and our current ac-

counts were blocked. I managed to resolve the situation with a contract ormaintenance work, a sale o claims or by taking another loan.

At that time, my youngest daughter, Ina, was in her third year o primary

school and Mihela was in high school. Tey both needed me to support them

emotionally and nancially. Neither o them had a ather gure to look up to

or to reassure their youthul anxieties. But they were both practical and used

to living modestly. Our grocery shopping was limited mostly to bread andmilk. o save money, we made our own jams, pickles, black currant and rasp-

berry juices, we baked our own bread and we grew potatoes and apples back

in Bele Vode. Living like this we were able to survive in a city despite the costs

o education and aterschool activities. I did not make a lot o money, and I

spent long hours at work but I was very motivated and very driven. Luckily the

age dierence between my daughters was eight years so they could take care

o each other. Mihela could take care o Ina, and when the boys started to be

interested in her, Ina was there to act as a chaperone in my absence. Both o

them were very supportive o me, and we always helped each other. We were

used to sharing good and not so good moments.

Tere were also awkward times, or example, at my daughters important

school events, like the prom, where both parents were supposed to be present.Tese were the most dicult times or us; it was at those times we elt that

our amily was not complete. I heard people talking about me and comment-

ing how I could be the director o a company even i I were not able to have

a proper amily.

When Mihela needed a special letter rom her high school to allow her to start

working, the secretary demanded to know why she wanted to work when her

mother was the director o a company and must make a lot o money. I did


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not have time to go to parent-teacher meetings, and that had negative con-

sequences as well. When Ina was in the ourth grade, she received a ailinggrade in Slovenian language class even though she has always excelled in her

native language.

One o our special moments we spent together was when I took both o them

with me to Berlin on a business trip. We drove in a very old Renault on the

East German motorway that looked and elt like urrows on a ploughed eld.

We drove 1200 kilometres in 15 hours on an extremely hot day in June. Webooked a room with two double beds in a small hotel in East Berlin. I remem-

ber how surprised we were at breakast, because there was so much ood to

choose rom. Ina took a slice o mortadela salami and brought it to our table

M i h e l a a n d I n a

i n B e r l i n


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45

in her hands trying to get a taste o everything that was served. We elt this

was luxury.

We stayed there or one week because the construction work in Berlin had al-

ready begun. I had a lot o work organizing the team and meeting with the cli-

ent. Each morning the girls went to the zoo, to a museum or to big shopping

centres, which they had never seen beore. In the evening we would meet in

the hotel and go out or dinner. I could not take one day o, but we were en-

joying our stay anyway. We were so happy when we bought a Barbie doll orIna and a pair o jeans or Mihela beore we returned home. Tese were both

items that we could not buy back home at that time.

MEETING WITH KINGS ANDTHE FIRST BIG CONTRACTIN SLOVENIAIn the spring o 1995 my colleagues and I went to an industrial air in

Hannover. Tis is still the largest and most prestigious trade air in Europe,where companies exhibit the newest technological solutions. We met people

rom Benning, a company rom Bocholt, Germany, which we had been coop-

erating with or some time in the eld o high-voltage motors and generators.

Tese are the motors used in the steel industry and in thermo power plants.

Our workers and engineers stayed with Benning or training. At that time we

were the only ones who had that kind o specialized knowledge in Slovenia.

Ater the air we went to a hotel where there were many Slovenians. I knew


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only a ew o them since I was still airly new to the business world outside o

Slovenia.

Hydro power stations, which had to be reurbished, provided an important

niche market in Slovenia. I had a dicult time getting to the decision mak-

ers or the power plant sector to oer our services. We were a completely un-

known company, only recent nancial stability and having almost no reer-

ences in this eld. But lie is a journey ull o surprises.

On that spring evening I came to a hotel ater an exhausting day at the busi-

ness air. In German, was asking the concierge where I could nd a phone. A

Slovenian man who was standing behind me made a comment saying that i

I had problems with communication he could help me. I was a little bit o-

S i g n i n g o n e o t h e c o n t r a c t s o r

r e n o v a t i o n o t h e D r a v a h y d r o p o w e r

p l a n t s


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47

ended by that so I shortly replied, Excuse me, but this is none o your busi-

ness.

Later that evening I went to dinner with my colleagues. My colleague met a

riend rom the aculty who joined us. He was a very pleasant person and the

director o the Soca hydro power plants group. I was happy to meet him, and

I wondered how come we had not met beore since our company was interest-

ed in hydro power plants. We spoke briefy and then he returned to his table.

I asked him who his colleagues were and he said one o them was Rade Kon-car, the director o the Sava hydro power plants, and another o his colleagues

I had met earlier at the reception. He was the director o the Drava hydroe-

lectric power plants. I could not believe that all the people who were so di-

cult to nd in Slovenia were sitting at the next table. I elt embarrassed since

W i t h d i r e c t o r s o t h e S l o v e n i a n

h y d r o p o w e r p l a n t s i n J a p a n


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the most important among them was the director o the Drava hydro power

plants whose last name in Slovenian language was King. Te same man I raninto when I was trying to nd a phone. He must have been amused knowing

how much I wanted to meet him back in Slovenia. We stayed at that restau-

rant or a long time, laughing and talking about the business.

When we came back to Slovenia I saw there was a public tender or a com-

plete renovation o the Drava hydro plants. I decided to go ahead and bid

on it. Te majority o people disagreed. Tey kept convincing me that we

were not even able to drat an ofer, let alone carry out the work. I was per-

sistent and asked the German company Benning or a reerence in the eld

o electricity generation, and I ound another company specializing in tur-

bines who also provided a reerence. I was trying to partner with the other

two Slovenia-based companies, Litostroj and Hidromontaza, but they both

reused to work with us. We were obviously too small and didnt promise

much.

We nalized an oer and I went with my colleague, Miran, to the bid opening

in Maribor. Only three companies completed the oer and all three o us were

there at the Drava hydro power plant oce that day: Hidromontaza, Litostroj

and Esotech. I still remember that they opened the oers in that order. Te

rst one was or 28 million German marks, the second one 18 million Ger-man marks and ours 16 million German marks. All the sudden everyone was

silent. I was dizzy with happiness, but at the same time I was worried about

how we would actually manage a project as big as this one. Te competitors

congratulated me, but the client was not really enthusiastic about us. During

the next month we signed the contract, and nally the day arrived when we

started construction on Maribor Island. Te plan was to remove the old power

plant and build a new one in nine months. We sent ty o our most qualied

employees rom the construction and engineering departments, dressed in


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49

new work clothes and helmets but with very basic knowledge and equipment.

Ater one month, our client inormed us that they would discontinue the con-tract unless we hired some genuine experts and improved our work. When I

returned to my company we had a serious discussion. We decided to signi-

cantly improve the system, put measurements in place, start hiring skilled en-

gineers and provide the client with the plans o how things would get better.

Te project was successul, and in the ollowing years we renovated the en-

tire chain o Drava power plants. Each time a power plant was nished wecelebrated and discussed how it all started. We continued working on anoth-

er Slovenian river Sava. I signed the last contract or renovation beore I let

Esotech.

THE FIRST MEETING WITHSCIENTISTS

Mezica is a small town in the Koroska region o Slovenia that used to bea source o lead and zinc ore in the 19th century. Te mine was later closed

and a recycling acility or car batteries opened. Te environmental impact o

both activities was enormous and the degradation o land can still be seen to-

day. People lived exposed to heavy metals and sulphur dioxide or years and in

1999 the government decided to nance a desulphurization project.

A number o multinational rms were competing or it and only two Slov-

enian representatives were among them, Esotech and the Jose Stean Insti-

Soa, Sava and Drava are three main rivers with hydro power stations in Slovenia.


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tute, the biggest governmental research institute in Slovenia. We both were

oering low price solutions, but our oer was the lowest. Unocially we weretold that i we managed to cooperate with the Jose Stean Institute, then we

would be awarded the contract. For us this project represented a big oppor-

tunity because it involved advanced technology that was usually sold only by

oreign companies, and it would become a very good reerence or our uture

business.

In the 90s, the research institutes were a world to themselves. Tere were noexamples o successul cooperation with the business sector or knowledge

transer. I invited the management team rom Joe Stean Institute or a

meeting to discuss opportunities or partnership. It was very dicult to con-

vince them to meet us and when we nally sat at the table, it was even more

dicult to nd common ground. Tey kept claiming that we are taking on

a demanding project or which we lacked adequate knowledge and skills. Al-

though they had a good point, I didnt want to give up. I presented our ar-

guments and I explained how we could combine our engineering knowledge

and on-site skills with their research development and experience with pilot

projects. Ater several hours o negotiations and many inappropriate com-

ments rom their side, we nally managed to nd common interest.

We ended up cooperating on the desulphurization project over the next twoyears. From 1999 the Mezica Valley began becoming green again and living

conditions signicantly improved. Since that time, we continued working to-

gether with Institute and ended up signing a long-term contract cooperating

in the eld o environmental protection technologies at home and abroad.

With Mezica on our reerence list, we were chosen as contractors in Bosnia or

two more actories and won a couple o tenders or environmental protection

technologies in the steel industry at home. ogether we ormed the Slovenian

water treatment technology platorm and established the Slovenian Environ-


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51

mental Cluster. We gained our condence back rom working on installation

projects only to develop new technologies - and started thinking big, towards

the East towards China.

W i t h D r A n d r e j S t e r g a r e k , a

l e a d i n g r e s e a r c h e r


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INFORMATIONTECHNOLOGIESSince childhood, when I rst admired the unctionality o the electric

ence, I have been ascinated by technology - rst by electronics and later by

inormation technologies. Our company went in this direction as well, devel-

oping into an engineering company where inormation technology played anincreasingly important role.

Te employees at Esotech were given their rst computers and training be-

gan. O course, it began with the standard resistance against anything new.

We were among the rst companies in Slovenia to introduce the use o e-mail,

W e w e r e p i o n e e r s i n t h e i e l d o

v i d e o - c o n e r e n c i n g t e c h n o l o g y

i n S l o v e n i a


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internet and network planning. According to the nature o our work, we paid

the most attention to project management and I support.

Nevertheless, we wanted to aim higher. Tanks to my daughter Mihela we got

involved with video-conerencing technology. We organized a small depart-

ment inside the company or I support and sales o video-conerencing sys-

tems. We were convinced that time is o the greatest value, and that is why we

believed in the uture o such time-saving systems. Te rst video-conerenc-

es we implemented were with our on-site teams.

Later on we signed a contract with the government to provide video-coner-

ence links between Ljubljana and Brussels to negotiate Sloveniasentry into the

European Union. Tat was a proud moment or us.

MY FOOTBALL STORYOne o my most memorable experiences goes back to the ootball story.

One o our projects at that time was the installation o the spectator stand.

Not long aterwards we received an invitation to become a sponsor o the

Football Club o martno pri Paki. I was new to this sport, but was impressedby the energy and enthusiasm o the martno people. Lie in the idyllic little

town o martno with 1000 residents was peaceul, but only until a ootball

match. Everyone in the town was obsessed with the game, rom the mayor to

the housewives. Maybe this was the reason that Slovenias most amous oot-

ball coach, Bojan Pranikar, comes rom martno.

Jaka, who was the project coordinator, was adept at steering the course

through the sporting rivalries. He was really good in networking and was


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I supported the work o Vojislav Simeunovic, who was the coach at the time. Pri-

or to the nal play-o game, I wrote a letter to the players and asked him to read

it beore they let the changing room. Tat day, the team succeeded and were pro-

moted to Slovenias Premier League. At that point, I stepped down as the presi-dent o the club and Esotech pulled out as the main sponsor. We let the club in

the good hands o, Era, a larger company which was able to provide stronger sup-

port to their sports clubs. Nevertheless, we still stayed in touch with them because

o the sincerity and unbelievable energy o the people rom martno.

I nalized my ootball story by travelling to South Korea to watch the Slov-

enian team play in World Cup. Te experience was unorgettable, and I am

happy that I was a part o the whole story.

A t t h e W o r l d C u p i n S o u t h

K o r e a


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ment, we saw it as a new business opportunity especially ater Slovenia joined

the EU. I understood that we can only protect the environment and our ownhealth by changing our habits as humans and that uture business strategies

would have to be based on environmentally riendly technologies and ap-

proaches and not on the end o pipe solutions.

Ater the Slovenian Environmental Cluster was established, the group o com-

panies included in the cluster become an important platorm or new technol-

ogies, research and on-site management. Slovenias entry to the EU provided

new opportunities. Esotech was a leading company in the cluster with high

G e t t i n g t h e a w a r d o r B u s i n e s s

P e r s o n o t h e Y e a r


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goals or internationalisation o business and the implementation o new en-

vironmental technologies. Our initial plan was to develop small pilot projectsat home that would later be developed into larger projects in the internation-

al markets.

wenty years earlier, I went or the rst time into a mine, where we were devel-

oping equipment or new excavations. Ater hours o walking, I could almost

believe the miners when they tried to convince me that there was tea in the

mine shats. Yes, when you are thirsty enough and ater working too long inunusual conditions, you believe many things; though it was only a joke on me.

Even when I became director o the ailed company ESO Montaza, I wasnt

aware o the traps that I experienced later. Like that tea in the mine shats.

From the moment that I took over the management

of the compa ny in 1992, i t was a process of

dai ly hard work and many sleepless nights.

After t wo years, our debt s reached zero and we

hovered there for the next several years. Af ter

1997, we pushed hard in an upward direction

unti l 2001, which was one of our most di ff icul t

years. And then a f i re happened in the largesthome appl iance com pany Gorenje where we were

working on a maintenance project. At the same

time, I was having serious health problems. Both

issues resulted in less projects, f inancial loss

and were reasons why banks started to withdraw

suppor t. We needed another two years to recover

and then we were able to move ahead with ful l

speed again. We opened new markets in


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ex-Yugoslavian countr ies, planned projects wit hthe new EU members and started our operations

in China.

On July 3, 2007 I went on a business tr ip to

Shanghai . That was new milestone in my l i fe.


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60 | M Y S T O R Y

WHERE THERES A WILLTHERES A WAY

From the interview with Lado Ambroi, Slovenia National

Television RTV Slovenija, February 4, 2007

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! onights guest is Mrs. Zoja Mazej

Kukovi, the CEO o Esotech, an engineering company rom Velenje. In 2006,

Mrs. Kukovi was recognized as Te Delo Business Person o the Year. Good

evening, Mrs. Kukovi. Congratulations on this prestigious award.

Tank you.

Youve been with the company since the beginning: in the war period, when

it was ESO involved with Velenjes mine and in 1992 when the company

separated rom the two frms, Oprema and Montaza. Youre an engineer,

but youve worked as a project engineer, a sales manager and now youre

the CEO o Esotech, ormer Eso Montaza. Your path to becoming a CEO

is impressive.

I have convinced people to go ahead with me, shoulder to shoulder, and Iveencouraged them through my work and persistence that there is something

behind my words. Tat is why we were able to make all those successul steps

orward.

But the most dicult challenge o my career was taking over a ailed compa-

ny. At that time, it never occurred to me that I would one day become director

o the company. I had always enjoyed working as a project engineer responsi-

ble or regulating technological processes, and I thought I would continue this

job or the rest o my lie. At that stage, I had a lot o contacts with our cus-


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61

tomers and that is how everything started. I began to sell products, not just

create them, and this was my rst business reality with a great deal o practi-

cal knowledge. Around 1990, I went to Berlin, with only a ew words o Ger-man, to learn more about the business in this market. I knew we had no oth-

er choice but to nd new markets outside Slovenia.

Can you tell us about the process o your transition into a management role in

the company?

In the early stages, it was important to arrive on time or work at 6 a.m. and

leave at 2 p.m. We didnt have to worry about whether you would get your pay

check each month or whether the company was protable; everyone just did

P r e p a r a t i o n o r t h e i n t e r v i e w


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62 | M Y S T O R Y

what was there to do and went home. Everything was taken care o includ-

ing social security and medical benets. But on the other hand we lacked se-rious challenges and the excitement o creativity. We had very little opportu-

nities to do something new.

When the market and economic position o Yugoslavia changed, a lot o com-

panies including ours was all o the sudden acing many diculties. We used

to call it bloody sweat. We ound ourselves in a situation where there was

very little money, where people were waiting to be managed in their daily

work and where there was constant pressure on how we will survive or an-other three months. At that time I didnt even dare to think in longer terms

than one quarter.

Month ater month I struggled through the same issues, trying to keep the cli-

ents and not to show the ears I had inside me. Besides everything else I was a

woman, new to the managerial role and without any reerences in the eld.

You have become a key gure in the development o Velenje. Velenje used to be

a rather dirty town due to its thermal power plant, but now through the vision

o people like yoursel, Nestl gank and Ivan Atelek, Velenje has been trans-

ormed into a beautiul place.

Yes, I admire them even today. When Nestl Zgank wrote, or it would be bet-

ter to say, dictated his rst book, titled Memories o the Red King, he criti-

cally evaluated the past, which made the book rather controversial. When weopened the Esotech development centre in 2000, he came to see our compa-

ny. I see Ivan Atelek as a visionary and he is still very active, even today. Its

inspiring to have role models who have a unique vision and who were able to

make these visions into reality by taking an unusual route to make them hap-

pen. When I once spoke to Ivan Atelek, I asked him why women liked work-

ing in Gorenje. He told me it was because o the asphalt road that allowed

them to come to work wearing high heels. Its hard to imagine today that our

decades ago this was one o the motivations.


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63

You must start with a unique vision and then you need to convince people

around you about this vision, its value and that its real, otherwise it wontwork without the support o others. Is this hard to do?

No, it isnt hard i you enjoy what you are doing and like working with peo-

ple. And I enjoy introducing people to new ideas that they have not consid-

ered beore. Its encouraging when you see that they believe you. O course, it

takes a lot o energy. You cant convince somebody i you are eeling empty;

i you are speaking, but there is no passion or the subject. It doesnt always

work out without diculties though; sometimes those who were strongly con-vinced only yesterday that we were doing the right thing become sceptical the

very next day, asking themselves i they are still doing the right thing. So, you

have to start rom the beginning, over and over again.

Speaking o the implementation o treatment plants and environmental project

engineering, what is the situation in Velenje, in your own backyard? For ex-

ample, how clean is the Paka River? How clean is the air in Velenje now that

there are ewer thermal power plants?

Te situation was really bad twenty years ago. I hope that I put it right 20

years rom now, as lie goes so ast we are hardly aware o the years fying by.

Because o the treatment plants, the closed water circuits, the sanitation o de-

graded suraces and water purication, many o the problems have been im-

proved to a satisactory level. But it doesnt mean that we have reached thenal stage. Tere are always new demands in the environmental eld. Re-

searchers and scientists are constantly researching new substances that could

be harmul to our health and the environment. Tat is why there are so many

new opportunities in this eld: in waste treatment, water treatment and even

in the identication o the emissions, or example, mercury rom gasoline.

Greenhouse gases caused by heating systems and the reduction o carbon di-

oxide emissions will require a unique approach in the next ten years i we wish

to keep our planet a nice place to live.


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65

Your story, Mrs. Kukovi, is actually a story about success and an enviable per-

sonal rise. Ater all there were seven children in your amily, and there proba-bly wasnt a lot o money, and you started to work as a orester as early as your

student years. Your success is similar to the concept o the American Dream,

where anyone with ambition and drive can make it happen, even i they start

out with nothing.

o start rom zero and succeed and then to all and rise again is a story valued

in America. Europe is more traditional with its concepts o class coming rom

amily money. Everything that seemed hard was really hard and made mestronger. My youth that I spent in those hills was so beautiul that I wish to-

days children could have this opportunity too. Money doesnt matter. Grow-

ing up, we were never hungry or without clothes, but what we really had was

a loving amily, lie in and with nature, our own little zoo at home with all

the animals on the arm.

As I read rom your publications, you know how to treat people. I also see that

you know how to stimulate them, as every year you select the best secretary, the

best installer, the best co-worker. Every year you reward the best. But must

you be strict as well?

Yes. Im strict when I have to be. Lie has taught me that there are no indul-

gent bosses. An indulgent boss is not a boss. But this doesnt mean not treat-

ing people properly and not trying to motivate them. You have to think aboutmotivation every day. A boss must know that the employees love their work.

I was happy when I received Te Delo Person o the Year Award and so were

my co-workers when they were declared Innovators o the Year or co-worker

o the year. Hard work paid o and it was recognized in Slovenian society as

well as in the business community. I havent met one person in the company

who would nd those awards meaningless or worthless. Te Greeks probably,

or the Egyptians, came up with the idea o awarding people to keep them mo-

tivated. I dont reer to awards in terms o money or material value. I think its


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66 | M Y S T O R Y

much more important to show people that you care about them in many ways,

or example, by asking ater their amily and showing concern about them ashuman beings, not just employees.

FEELINGS WHEN YOU ARE

LEFT ALONEJuly and August 2007

Lie can change in a moment. While I was in Shanghai on business, I got

a note that I had been dismissed rom the position o CEO at Esotech. Te

news hit me like a bomb and broke me down completely. When I was return-

ing back to Slovenia rom China, I elt so deeated that I didnt care even i

the plane crashed. People, who I worked with or the past 20 years and trust-

ed the most, betrayed me.

I have gone through many crisis situations in my lie, both personal and in

business. Divorce at the age o twenty was very painul, but the eeling o be-

ing betrayed by my closest co-workers, who I personally employed, promotedto management, arranged loans to enable them to buy shares, and invited to

my house in Bele Vode to eat goulash nothing I had experienced so ar in

my lie prepared me or this.

It wasnt just about the orced dismissal rom the company that I had taken

on as my own and paid more attention to than even my own children many

times. Te whole story seemed like a screenplay or a surreal thriller: an in-

sidious dismissal when I was out o the country, intimidation, being ollowed


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67

everywhere ater I came back to Slovenia, public humiliation as the media

dragged my name through the mud, being swarmed by employees who stillbelieve in you and want answers, plus the everyday stress when a postman

brought me a yet another envelope to my home address.

I knew that the main purpose o the whole circus was to break me down so

that I would sell my Esotech shares to the new owners. Instead o selling, I

continued buying more. Even my amily asked me to stop, because they were

so worried about the whole situation. I had invested too much o mysel into

Esotech to just walk away without a ght.

A t e r m y b u s i n e s s t r i p t o

C h i n a , I w a s l e t o u t s i d e t h e

c o m p a n y s d o o r


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68 | M Y S T O R Y

It is unbelievable how quickly you can all rom a position o being in con-

trol as a manager into a hole where you eel like a weak animal. It was the rsttime I had been unemployed in my lie. Looking or a lawyer was a nightmare,

which took my last grams o energy. When I was going rom one law oce

to the other, explaining my story and hearing all over again that I should get

used to my new situation, I didnt know who I could trust anymore. I was at

my wits end when I nally ound a lawyer with whom I elt comortable and

trusted that we would be able to manage the case.

ensions and pressure increased until August, when the Esotech scheduled an

annual shareholders meeting. All this time, up until August 22nd, I wasnt

allowed to enter the company premises. New guards they hired had been or-

dered to let me in only i I signed the termination o my employment con-

tract. I stood at the entrance to Esotech watching people leave the building.

Some o them shook my hand, but many o them couldnt look me in the eyes.

Some o them were ashamed, while others were too araid o the consequenc-

es o choosing sides.

Ater the shareholders meeting I was invited to do a handover to the new man-

agement. I told my team o executive managers who were in the room and

who used to work with me since I started as a CEO that I had cared or them

very much. We have shared many hard and joyul moments together. Teact that you werent able to look into my eyes and tell me that we can no long-

er work together, that you did it in my absence, is the hardest thing or me to

accept. Tis will weigh upon you, because I believe that some o you do have

eelings. When I launched the takeover bid or Esotech, I invited you to be-

come owners with me. And I did the same or all the employees. I have nev-

er excluded anyone. I eel sad and disappointed to know that you treated peo-

ple who didnt agree with your way o taking over shares and votes in a violent

way and that you did not allow them to have their own opinions. Tere are at


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least seven o you who get along today, because you think o me as an enemy

rom the outside. But I am not. Seven people cannot make decisions or every-one; it will simply not work. Trough all those months when I was struggling

to arrange purchases, gain nancial control and develop inormation technol-

ogy, you were planning to get rid o me. In only six months we made almost

as much progress as it took us the whole o last year. At the last meeting with

the employees I assured you that there was no crisis in the business and that

the only problems that might arise were in human relations. And that is ex-

actly what has happened.

Despite all what happened in that past two months I had not intention to

put them or Esotech in jeopardy. I dont want to live with hatred because lie

is too short. I rmly believe that lie puts everything in the right place at the

right time.


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HOW I ACCELERATEDTHE PLOT AGAINST MEAND BECAME THE 25%SHAREHOLDER OFESOTECHInterview, Brane Piano, National Newspaper Delo, August 2007

(the names in the interview are left out)

In the last selection or Te Delo Person o the Year Award, the (then) CEO

o Esotech, Zoja Mazej Kukovi, deeated some well-known managers: Joe

Colari, CEO o Krka, and Franjo Bobinac, CEO o Gorenje. Tis selec-

tion probably surprised the media and the public, while the Slovenian busi-

ness sphere wasnt surprised at all. Mrs. Mazej Kukovi was the driving orce

behind Esotechs success in the eld o environmental technologies in Slovenia

and Europe, and she even started to pave the way in China. In only 15 years,

she built, on the ruins o a mining enterprise, a successul company that headsthe Slovenian Environmental Cluster. We were thereore shocked when we

heard about her dismissal rom Esotech. We still havent got any explanation

rom the Supervisory board or rom the new management board. oday, we

interview Zoja Mazej Kukovi or her story about what happened.

What is your current labour status?

Ater 33 years o work, I am now unemployed. I cant explain how shocked I

am by the events o the last ew months. I rst received a summary dismiss-


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al rom the position o CEO at Esotech and, ater a ew days, a notice termi-nating my employment. In the meantime, I wanted to go to the company, but

the newly hired guards at the entrance stopped me. Tey wanted me to sign a

document terminating my employment rst, otherwise they would not let me

in. O course, I reused to sign it.

Tere were also some changes in the Esotech supervisory board. Te president

o the three-member supervisory board resigned. wo weeks beore my busi-

ness trip to China, the supervisory board conrmed all business reports and

plans. Tey set up the agenda or the shareholders meeting and approved all

I n J u l y 2 0 0 7 pho to : Bran e Piano


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proposals rom the management board. wo members rom the superviso-

ry board then suddenly changed their minds and concluded that I was jeop-ardizing the company and should thereore be immediately replaced in my

absence. I got on the plane to China on Friday aternoon, not knowing that

they just scheduled another meeting o the supervisory board. Te worst part

is that I wasnt even given the right to deend mysel against their accusations.

On Monday morning, July 3rd, the supervisory board dismissed me without

notice.

Beore your trip to China, you oered to purchase your employees shares?

Even the supervisory board was aware that we had to do something beore Au-

gust and we needed to decide whether we were going to sell the unds o pro-

prietary shares or withdraw them and thereore decrease the companys initial

capital. Selling the und o proprietary shares seemed like the best option, as

withdrawing them would increase the owners shares in the company or ree.

For this reason, at the beginning o June, I oered all internal owners Eso-

tech employees - the opportunity to purchase the shares rom the und o pro-

prietary shares. As early as June 12, we already realized that the demand was

bigger than the oer. Te bids were three times greater than the number o

available shares. From the conclusions o the shareholders meeting, I invited

all employees to purchase the shares. But then I realized that the calculations

would be very complicated as each shareholder was entitled to receive romthe und as many shares, in the same proportion, as was his or her share in the

company. So I applied the clause rom the bid, allowing me to withdraw it.

Why was there so much interest in the shares?

It became clear that there was great interest outside the company. In the past,

we had to beg employees to purchase the shares. Over a 15 year period, Es-

otech went through our or ve serious crises, and this resulted in an under-

standable lack o enthusiasm on their part to buy shares. o provide an exam-


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Despite your removal from the company you, however, managed to buy shares.

Its true. I increased my ownership in Esotech to 25% that summer. I wasntaware that my bid and successul purchase o shares actually disturbed the se-

cret plan o my closest co-workers. Banks oered their support, because they

trusted me. I also discussed the situation with the president o the superviso-

ry board beore I announced my oer. I clearly saw that Esotech needed a ma-

jority owner, and I decided to take that risk; it took a lot o courage to do it. I

the management team had become a majority owner, it wouldnt have lasted

or long because not every decision can be reached by consensus.

What was your co-workers plan, the one that you knew nothing about? Who

were the main people involved?

I ound this out ater my dismissal, although I had elt something was hap-

pening even beore. In July, when I was in China, they organized the share-

holders meeting in order to convince the employees in my absence to sign

an agreement transerring the shares to an authorized company, Delta CRP

Ljubljana, established by Law Firm Colja, Rojs and partners rom Ljubljana.

Tis rm was also responsible or the whole takeover operation. My ormer

management team convinced Esotechs employees to transer their shares to

the authorized company practically or ree. Tey were told to do so because

I was very dangerous and was going to sell the company. People didnt know

what was really going and signed the papers without even asking or a copy.Tey locked the shares or two years with a high penalty i anyone reconsid-

ered selling them to me or somebody else. I would rather speak no urther

about the stories that we heard about authorized companies like that one and

the rauds they committed.

When did the plan with the take over start?

It started at the end o the last year (2007), when one o the management peo-

ple had to leave Esotech. Tat plan then reached the nal stage this year, in


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75

May, when another member let. Te same person then returned to the com-

pany ater my dismissal and became the new CEO. Te Delta CRP was es-tablished in May. When those two co-workers were leaving the company, we

mutually agreed on paying them both o. Te rst one is now back and the

second one is about to come back as a CFO. Te latter also unocially runs

Delta CRP. With my decisions and intuition, I actually provoked and speed-

ed up the events they had scheduled, but with one dierence - I became the

owner o a 25% stake in Esotech.

Tis makes you the majority owner o Esotech.

Yes, and I cannot even pass by the security guards at the entrance.

What are your uture plans? What procedures are you going to initiate, or you

have already initiated?

My priority right now is to gather new energy. Im not araid to admit it. Te

worst is behind me, and my amily and I have started to set new goals or the

uture, ocusing on environmental protection. In the last ew years, Ive de-

veloped network that I can build on, in Slovenia and on an international lev-

el. Im also convinced that we have to come to the bottom o what happened

at Esotech and take the necessary legal steps. Its not just about my personal

sense o justice. It must to be done, not only or the company, but also or na-

tional interests. Te act that the supervisory board dismissed me while onlytwo weeks earlier it had been completely satised with my work and that its

members had been inormed about every detail over the past 10 years, doesnt

add up. Im also thinking about my shares in Esotech. In dismissing me, they

took everything rom me, especially the creativity which I cherished the most.

I derived a lot o pleasure out o my participation in developing Esotech into

an international high technology company. I ran the Slovenian Environmen-

tal Cluster and the Slovenian water technology platorm. I was active in na-

ture protection associations in Europe and internationally. I really wanted to


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76 | M Y S T O R Y

create something meaningul, something important that would have benets

or uture

Zofija's Story

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Transcript of Zofija's Story