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The Winner of the “EY Entrepreneur of The Year™” Competition has been announced 27.04.20

EY Azerbaijan has announced the winner of the "EY Entrepreneur of the Year ™" competition held in Azerbaijan for the first time. The "EY Entrepreneur of the Year" competition, which has been held in partnership with the Small and Medium Business Development Agency (SMBDA) of the Republic of Azerbaijan, was sponsored by BP and IBAR.

An independent panel of judges consisting of the top managers of the business community, and state companies, as well as the representatives of the international financial institutions, selected the winner of the competition. Dozens of small and medium entrepreneurs operating in agriculture, furniture, construction, metal products, pipes, glass production, oil and gas industry, online business and other fields applied for the competition. The winner was chosen among 12 strong candidates, who passed the selection stage and demonstrated leadership qualities in entrepreneurship.

The award ceremony was held online due to the pandemic.

The jury announced the nominees in different categories after a thorough evaluation of the applications of contestants.

Thus, Rasim Aliyev from Geothermal Aqro was awarded in the category of Sustainable Development in the agricultural sector, Aliyar Aliyev from Woodpecker in the nomination on Regional Development, Farid Ismayilzada from GoldenPay in the category of Innovations, and Rufat Azizov from Prometal in the nomination on Social Impact.

Rashkhan Garashli, the founder and head of HORECA, was announced a winner of the "EY Entrepreneur of the Year" competition. He will represent Azerbaijan in the international phase of the “EY Entrepreneur of the Year" competition and compete against the most innovative businessmen of the world.

After the announcement, R.Garashli said: “I would like to express my gratitude to EY and its partners for organizing such a contest. This competition provides an incentive for businesses to be more successful. I hope this will stimulate many startup companies to get involved in this competition in the future, which will help them to find their rightful place in the market. As a company, we have already managed to achieve a certain level of recognition, so we would also like to support new players.”

Orkhan Mammadov, Chairman of the Board of the Small and Medium Business Development Agency (SMBDA) of the Republic of Azerbaijan, said: “It is noteworthy that ‘EY Entrepreneur of the Year’ award ceremony, held for the first time in Azerbaijan on April 25, coincides with the "Entrepreneurs' Day" in our country. The competition is a valuable platform for cooperation between the public and private sectors, and it provides an opportunity to promote entrepreneurship and motivate entrepreneurs. SMBDA supports the organization of this event each year as an important initiative aimed at the development of entrepreneurship. We consider it necessary to work together to form a new entrepreneurial role model in accordance with the challenges of modern times.”

“There are many successful businessmen in our country, but to build something truly remarkable you should be able to overcome an array of challenges and carry on in the face of various adversities. I am sure our dedicated and resilient entrepreneurs will be able to bounce back from this crisis and continue to inspire innovation and growth despite the current calamity. EY is proud to host the 2020 “EY Entrepreneur of the Year” competition, which contributes to the development of small and medium business.” said Ilgar Veliyev, the managing partner at EY Azerbaijan.

Bakhtiyar Aslanbayli, BP’s Vice President for Communications, External Affairs, Strategy and Region, said: “In our efforts to help develop the local supply chains and entrepreneurship, we are fully aligned with the aims of the “EY Entrepreneur Of The Year” competition since the contest clearly recognizes entrepreneurial achievements and growth efforts of local businesses. We would like to thank EY for this opportunity to support this prestigious competition and look forward to seeing Azerbaijan’s representative among the best entrepreneurs from around the world.”

“The EY Entrepreneur of the Year competition’ is an important development in the country’s economic life because we believe it will benefit the business community and encourage entrepreneurs to realize their potential. As the International Bank of Azerbaijan, we were pleased to get behind this project as we’re genuinely interested in economic growth and support for small and medium-sized enterprises. Our bank has been taking concrete measures to achieve these. We even founded The Entrepreneurs’ Club that allows us to support businessmen from across the country.” said Abbas Ibrahimov, Chairman of the Management Board of International Bank of Azerbaijan.

About “Entrepreneur Of The Year™”

“Entrepreneur Of The Year™,” founded by EY, has been held since 1986. The "EY Entrepreneur of the Year" program, the most prestigious business award in the world, aims to stimulate the entrepreneurial activity of high potential entrepreneurs and encourage others by promoting leadership and success of those entrepreneurs. The "EY Entrepreneur of the Year," the first and only global awards program in its field, reveals entrepreneurs, who built successful, growing and dynamic businesses, through regional, national and global awards programs in more than 145 cities of more than 60 countries.