Expat CEO of the Year Award

Congratulations to the Winners!

WINNER OF THE BBJ EXPAT CEO OF THE YEAR 2023 REVEALED

Veronika Spanarova
Managing Director, Country Head, Hungary, Citi

WINNER OF THE COMMUNITY AWARD 2023

Andrea Solti Istenes
Country Chair and President of the Board of Shell Hungary Zrt. and President of the Hungarian Business Leaders Forum
THE BBJ EXPAT CEO OF THE YEAR AWARD

The BBJ Expat CEO of the Year Gala is one of Hungary’s most prestigious annual events. On that evening, the Expat CEO of the Year Award is presented to a company head chosen from a pool of what amounts to several hundred expat leaders and recognized as the most successful foreign leader in the past year. Success here means that they contribute at an exceptional level to Hungary’s economic development and set a great example to their employees and also to their peers within the expat community.

The award is now a tradition; it has been granted annually since 2015. The idea to create a prize offering exclusive recognition of the efforts of the most outstanding foreign CEO of the year came from the Budapest Business Journal.

“The BBJ is Hungary’s only English-language economic bi-weekly and has always played an important role in providing information for expat CEOs working and living in Hungary. That is why we decided to found an award to recognize their efforts annually,” explains Balázs Román, the CEO of the Budapest Business Journal.

History of the Award

The 2022 title went to Giacomo Pedranzini, CEO of Kometa 99 Zrt. After a COVID-induced delay to the gala of 18 months, Erik Slooten of Deutsche Telekom IT Solutions Hungary was selected as the 2021 winner. His immediate predecessor, albeit one named in January 2020, was BlackRock’s Melanie Seymour. Taira-Julia Lammi, CEO of ABB Hungary Kft., won the award in 2019, while in 2018, it went to Marc de Bastos Eckstein of Thyssenkrupp Components Technology Hungary Kft. In 2017, it was Jörg Bauer, then of GE Hungary; he followed Jost Ernst Lammers, CEO of Budapest Airport Zrt. in 2016. The inaugural award was presented in 2015 to Javier González Pareja of Bosch Magyarország. Each year until 2020, the official event partner, the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency, presented its Partnership Award in recognition of the work of foreign-owned multinational firms in promoting the use of local SME suppliers in their value chain and of the ambassadorial role their CEOs play in representing Hungary to their home boards. Over the years, the award has been presented to the following:

Nevijo Mance, director of engineering, Jaguar Land Rover Hungary (2021); Dale A. Martin, president-CEO of Siemens Zrt. (2020); Kannan Prabhakar, projects chief of Apollo Tyres Hungary Kft. (2019); Frank Müller, head of the Regional Office of VW Group Eastern Europe (2018); Ekkehard Günter Philipp, CFO of Mercedes-Benz Manufacturing Hungary Kft. (2017); Naoyuki Takeuchi, CEO of Magyar Suzuki Zrt. (2016); and Kersten Bachmann, CEO of TAKATA Safety Systems Hungary Kft. (2015).

JURY

The independent jury members’ expertise strengthens the high quality of the award. It is comprised of leaders of bilateral chambers and international business development organizations with outstanding experience both in international and domestic economic life, complemented by the prize winner of the previous year and the CEO of the Budapest Business Journal.

Jury members are charged with nominating expat CEOs for the award based on the following criteria:

  • Innovative skills
  • Successes on domestic and international markets
  • Being a prominent and committed representative of his or her mother country in Hungary
  • Their impact on Hungary’s economic life
  • The CEO must have lived in Hungary for at least two years
  • The financial results of the company represented by the CEO must be positive

The jury responsible for deciding the 2023 winner:

Giacomo Pedranzini
CEO of Kometa 99 Zrt.
Írisz Lippai-Nagy
CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hungary
András Sávos
President, DUIHK, and VP Global Enterprise Systems and Strategic Projects, Knorr-Bremse
István Joó
CEO of the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency
Balázs Román
CEO of the BBJ

PREVIOUS WINNERS OF BBJ EXPAT CEO OF THE YEAR

Giacomo Pedranzini
CEO of Kometa 99 Zrt.
2022
Erik Slooten
CEO of Deutsche Telekom IT Solutions Hungary
2021
Melanie Seymour
Former Head of BlackRock Budapest 2017-2019 Head of Global Client Services
2020
Taira-Julia Lammi
CEO of ABB Hungary Kft.
2019
Marc de Bastos Eckstein
CEO of thyssenkrupp Components Technology Hungary Kft.
2018
Jörg Bauer
Managing director of GE Hungary Kft.
2017
Jost Ernst Lammers
CEO of Budapest Airport Zrt.
2016
Javier González Pareja
CEO of Bosch Magyarország
2015
PREVIOUS WINNERS OF HIPA LOCAL PARTNERSHIP AWARD
Nevijo Mance
Director of Engineering, Jaguar Land Rover Hungary
2021
Dale A. Martin
Member of the Board, German-Hungarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce, and President and CEO of Siemens Hungary
2020
Kannan Prabhakar
Chief, Projects of Apollo Tyres Hungary Kft.
2019
Frank Müller
Head of Regional Office Volkswagen Eastern Europe
2018
Ekkehard Günther Philipp
CEO of Mercedes Benz Manufacturing Kft.
2017
Naoyuki Takeuchi
CEO of Magyar Suzuki Zrt.
2016
Kersten Bachmann
CEO of TAKATA Safety Systems Hungary Kft.
2015

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Dress-code

The dress code is black-tie: black tuxedo for men with a bow tie, evening wear for women (long ball gown or cocktail dress).

Food allergy, special diet

When registering, please let us know about any special dietary requirements.

Registration process

Registration to the event is open to those who have received a personal invitation to the BBJ Expat CEO of the Year Gala via email. Please note that only by giving a written confirmation of your registration here will you be entitled to attend the Gala. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at event@bbj.hu.

Venue

The venue of the Expat CEO of the Year Gala event is the Grand Ballroom of the Corinthia Hotel Budapest.
Website: www.corinthia.com/hotels/budapest/
Address: Budapest, Erzsébet krt. 43, 1073 Hungary
Parking is possible on site at the hotel garage (spaces permitting) according to the parking rates of the Corinthia Hotel Budapest.

SPONSORS

To become a sponsor please contact us here: balazs.roman@bbj.hu