Thirty-year-old Milica Ljujić, last year’s Young Manager of the Year – as chosen by the Regional Chamber of Commerce, returned to her native Prijepolje after studying in Vienna. Her desire was to help her father with her knowledge of management and business, but after his sudden death, she took over the leadership of the family company in the wood industry, which has more than a hundred employees.
She spent her childhood in her father’s sawmill and pellet production plants; her love for music took her to Belgrade where she finished high school and the Mokranjac Music School, while in Vienna she turned to economics studies. Through a combination of life circumstances, three years ago, she took over the care of a company that feeds more than a hundred families.
“I didn’t want someone, anyone, to step with their foot on what was built for 30 years. People are simply surprised; I don’t know if it’s more because I’m female or more because I took over leading the company at this age some, well now, 3 years ago,” states Milica Ljujić, director of Star Jela doo, Prijepolje.
The wind in her sails comes from her mother and two younger sisters, and her support comes from workers, many of whom have been there since the founding of the firm.
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Veljko Vuković, head of pellet production, explains: “At the beginning, people had fears about how things would go after the death of the firm’s owner, but as the months passed, we felt a certain security with Milica; she was with him for a long time and learned the business from him, and for now, we feel secure.”
“She came here after college; I honestly had no doubt that she wouldn’t be able to do it,” emphasizes Milosav Pejatović, a forwarder at the company.
Even though they initially produced 20 thousand tons of pellets annually, today they produce four times more, but their priority is quality rather than quantity for the sake of the market which, besides Serbia, is also in neighboring countries, thirty-year-old Milica adds.
“I lived for 4 years in Austria, for example, and I see that we are still lagging behind all of them quite a bit; green energy is something that is only just beginning to awaken and our primary goal is simply stability and maintaining constant work, meaning 12 months a year, rather than something seasonal,” believes Milica Ljujić.
As pioneers in the Prijepolje region in the production of pellets and biomass, they are searching for partners with whom they would operate a plant for the production of electrical energy, adds Milica, who was also presented with the Women in Business award for the best young entrepreneur 2 years ago.
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Source: RTS, Photo: Printscreen RTS