INTERVIEW: GENERAL MANAGER OF COMPANY ‘LAKE’ FROM SARAJEVO AND OWNER OF HOTEL MARRIOTT NEDŽAD BUBICA
Interviewed by: Denis RAKANOVIĆ
SARAJEVO, Oct. 9 (ONASA) – General Manager Bubica in the interview for the Agency ONASA, among other things, talks about his two companies LAKE d.o.o. and LAKE Hospitality, the most important projects implemented so far, new Marriott hotels and their business operations, plan regarding the construction of the new Hilton hotel in the center of Sarajevo…
ONASA: When was the company founded and what is your core business?
BUBICA: “LAKE” d.o.o. Sarajevo BiH is one of the first private companies in the former Yugoslavia, registered in 1991. “LAKE” d.o.o. specializes in consulting, engineering, manufacturing and services. “LAKE” company has 22 years long tradition in providing engineering services in the construction industry, with over 65 completed projects with a total value of 48 million euros.
ONASA: How many employees does your company have and do you have the intention to employ new workers?
BUBICA: At this time, with the newly founded daughter company LAKE Hospitality d.o.o. which is engaged in the hotel business (Courtyard by Marriot Sarajevo), we have over 90 employees. Number of employees from month to month increases slightly.
ONASA: What are your most important projects to date?
BUBICA: I would mention the building ”House of Europe” where are the institutions of the European Delegation, EU Special Representative and the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany as well as our last project the Hotel Courtyard by Marriot Sarajevo. We are not a company that will racketeer another company, we have grown a lot since we first started working with residential buildings. We have built the only building that is covered with stone, which had aluminum facade, thermal conditions, however, everyone started building residential buildings, and we could not work in the unfair competition, thus we started building business facilities, we have made the building of the European Union and the Embassy of Germany, the building especially constructed for them. We won the competition at which participated seven companies, however, we were the only one that has something concrete to offer, as the others did not offer anything concrete. Then everyone started building business facilities, and we have seen that we cannot follow that too, and then we started with the branded hotels, and no one can follow us there. We have managed to be creditworthy as the company, to be able to return daily over 10.000 euros of debit, thus we successfully service our costs. At times we have a serious daily income, thus we are solvent and banks are willing to follow us in large projects.
ONASA: How much does your company realize annualy, how many projects do you have opened at the present and the progress of construction?
BUBICA: At this point we are actively working on running the hotel, and are preparing for another major project in the city center, where we should build a Hilton Hotel. The project for the Hilton Hotel is ready, we only need that the Sarajevo Canton Government makes a decision on approval of transfer of land to the company Lake and to continue other work. The Hilton Hotel should be built on the site of today’s parking lot near the bridge Suada and Olga at Vrbanja. The construction of the Hilton Hotel would extend Sarajevo, connect Wilson’s Promenade with Skenderija, and we have planned a walkway 19 meters wide, and the Hilton Hotel would be this bond of the extension of Sarajevo. Hilton Hotel is planned with two towers, and in front of the hotel would be a very large square, with the area of about 1.000 square meters reserved for the gathering of children and youth. This project would directly employ 400, and indirectly 4.000 people.
This project was agreed with one of the previous Governments, but the Government fell before they could make a decision, and we have now started from the beginning with the new Government of the Sarajevo Canton. The construction of the Hilton Hotel and the convention center with the hotel should turn this part of city into an elite part, that would enable the development of business, that there are located our businessmen and entrepreneurs, that it is almost a fair of our products and the opportunity to showcase them to the world.
ONASA: What are your business results for this year?
BUBICA: They are satisfactory, in accordance with the adopted plan of the company for this year.
ONASA: Do you think that better or worse days are ahead for the construction sector?
BUBICA: No sector can be isolated from the complete blood count of a society, thus and the construction industry depends on the economic situation of the country. I think that at all costs we have to make more attractive and appealing terrain for foreign investors.
ONASA: What is your opinion on joining of several construction companies in a consortium for more successful performance in the international market?
BUBICA: Given my long experience of working abroad with Energoinvest, I believe that BiH has more than enough expertise and resources to perform in the international market which is confirmed by the construction of infrastructure projects in BiH.
ONASA: Do you think that in BiH has started construction on the stereotype of concrete, glass facade, without any design inventiveness?
BUBICA: In the world are happening great progresses in architecture that are associated with a number of innovative materials. I believe that every city should follow international trends of construction to, on the one hand, attract attention with its freshness, but on the other hand should not be abandoned traditional building and protection of cultural heritage, which is crucial for tourism and for the very identity of a city.
ONASA: Can you tell us something more about the Hotel Marriott?
BUBICA: Courtyard Marriott Hotel is the business hotel, which Sarajevo really needed, this hotel is a five-star. This is the first hotel that has been done by the new Courtyard making-of-room system, and we have quite corrected this new system, modified it and thus at the Marriott’s website are published new standards from Sarajevo for a hotel construction. We have managed to build a hotel and now Marriott, thanks to our experience, has adopted it as a new standard of construction, as a demonstrative example of how to build a hotel. Over 90 percent of the work was done by local companies, these are people who have returned from abroad, from Switzerland, Germany, who have opened companies that work with the latest technologies. We have made the product that is of incredible quality and cheap. The Marriott Hotel costs 100.000 euros per room, however, we have raised the standard by 30 percent, and made it for 70.000 euros per room, including the land. Thus, who knows how to make use of local potential and to start the local economy, they are a winner. Who includes engineers and people who understand that work, they will certainly do a quality work, because our people are creative.
This is the first green building which was done in Sarajevo, ie. it has its own energy production, thermal insulation is well done, and when the temperatures were the highest, when all cooling systems were working, we lowered the temperature between 18 and 20 degrees throughout the hotel and have spent 13.000 BAM of electricity, or 100 BAM per room, which is very cost effective. This is simply incredible, but is possible if done well, and when engineers come and create special packages of hardware and glass for eastern, western, northern and southern side. Also, we produce energy for technical water for the hotel, that works fantastically, and this water is used for bathing of guests. According to the Marriott standards rooms have 22 square meters, while our rooms have from 28 to 34 square meters. We did it, but all the local mind was there.
ONASA: Are you satisfied how the Hotel Courtyard by Marriott operated so far?
BUBICA: Lake Hospitality bought franchise from the Marriott, and American Interstate is the controller of the hotel, and we got a man from abroad for a manager. We were careful and followed this man, saw that the hotel is going downwards, and we reacted relatively quickly and asked the Interstate to dismiss him. The only hotel that during the Sarajevo Film Festival was not full was our hotel. Restaurants and service part worked very bad, and when he needed to work the most, the manager simply went to 20-days vacation, he was not interested, removed the best people who were there, and kept his cronies. Within two hours, the manager had to leave the hotel. My daughter and son took over the hotel, they have returned the staff that was fired and who had quality.
Less than two months since we took over management of the hotel, the hotel is 90 percent full. It is the fullest and most expensive hotel in Sarajevo currently. We hope for success, as the city needs to go forward, average hotels should not be built anymore, we have to enter the world map of hotels. I hope that people at the Canton will be smart and have enough courage to allow the construction of the Hilton Hotel, for which everything is ready, but our administration reacts slowly, and in very strange way. I hope that we will be smart enough to complete it.
ONASA: Do you think Sarajevo is doing enough on the tourist offer of the city?
BUBICA: Sarajevo is not doing anything, the city as the tourist board even slows down the construction of some high-quality facilities, as people make wrong assumptions. First of all, Sarajevo as a recognizable city in the world, does not have a single conference hall. We spoke to Marriott and Hilton in Vienna, Vienna has about 7.500 conferences annually, they believe that five percent of conferences should move to Sarajevo. However, in order that these conferences move to Sarajevo, we have to have at least three branded hotels with a minimum of 250 rooms. It would be great that Al-Shiddi finishes their hotel, to build the Hilton Hotel, and as part of that, in line with private-public ownership, would be built the conference center at Skenderija on the part of the Commercial City for three thousand people who could work there. In a part of the Youth House, which is quite unused, could be made twenty meeting rooms and there could be made a regional business center, not only Bosnian, where would be included all resources at the disposal of BiH and that BiH and the city are included in the global redistribution of goods. Now, everything is done individually, chambers of commerce are organizations where people are placed, there are placed party people who receive salary. Businessmen have to pay them, and now we came in the situation where the Sarajevo Canton instead of seven billion BAM budget, has 700 million BAM. We need to work on the economy, and the tourism is a very important industry, because it is a pure technology.
We have employed 64 people, and did not receive any incentives from authorities, just as if nothing had happened. At the opening of the hotel we invited all politicians, no one came, no one is interested. This was a revolutionary project, Marriott Residency in fact is not a hotel, it is apartments, and this is the first hotel in the true sense of the word, which provides businessmen everything they need. The quality that we provide and the brand that we have enhanced made it possible for people to talk to each other about the hotel, and that almost without advertising, because of the problem with the manager who left with his people, to the hotel the guests come alone, and it has become a normal thing that all business people come to our hotel.
ONASA: Has Sarajevo approached the world standards of exclusive hotels with the construction of the Hotel Marriott?
BUBICA: It has approached them little, as the Courtyard by Marriott is the business hotel. Hilton Hotel that should be built will have on the roof a part reserved for parties of the world’s jet-set and in talks with representatives of the Hilton London was promised that they will finance a part of the project, introduce direct flights en route Sarajevo-London, so these people could come to gala events for the world’s celebrities, as Sarajevo is a very interesting city for this population of people.
Sarajevo receives all the people who come here, it makes no distinction and gives everyone the same chance, to advance in business, to work.
Another thing is that our people are very impartial, communicative. Our people like guests, it has remained with us from the home upbringing, that the guest is still more important than the host. Here people are happy when someone comes, there is no resentment towards other people on national, religious or racial grounds.
Sarajevo showed during the war that it is a cosmopolitan city as Muslims guarded churches, synagogues, cathedrals.
I am proud to be a part of this city and part of the culture, as we need to show to Zagreb and Belgrade what is culture, because here is learned what is culture, what is tolerance.
They should come here to learn from us. (end)