Oliver Dlouhý, founder of global start-up Kiwi.com s.r.o., is EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 Czech Republic | Artifact

The global entrepreneur competition as held in the Czech Republic for the twentieth time.

Prague, 3 March 2020 – Oliver Dlouhý, founder and owner of Kiwi.com s.r.o.,is the winner of the prestigious EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 CzechRepublic competition. The trophy for the nationwide winner of best entrepreneurwas presented on Tuesday, March 3^rd in Prague’s Žofín Palace. MichaelTresner of ThreatMark s.r.o. was named EY Technology Entrepreneur Of The Year2019. The Czech Television Prize for Entrepreneurial Contribution to Cultureand the Arts went to Ondřej Kobza, owner of Zahrada na střeše s.r.o. and the SocialEntrepreneur trophy went to Antonín Nekvinda and Josef Suchár of civicassociation Sdružení Neratov, z.s. Twenty-two-year-old Václav Staněk, founderof Vasky trade s.r.o, was named EY Start-up Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019, andalso won the competition for the best entrepreneurial story 2019 in a vote ofMF DNES and iDNES.cz readers.

“I reallyappreciate this success and award. I would like to thank my whole team, familyand friends. I wouldn't be here without them. I see a wave of Internet globalentrepreneurs in the Czech Republic, but there are still few of them. Even ifthis success were to inspire just one entrepreneur, I would be very happy,” recounted Oliver Dlouhý of Kiwi.com s.r.o., winner ofthe EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 Czech Republic title, of his immediateimpressions.

“The 20^th anniversary of the EYEntrepreneur Of The Year competition in the Czech Republic was packed withgreat entrepreneurial personalities, as evidenced by the ten regional awards. Thirty-two-year-oldOliver Dlouhý, who won this year's national contest based on the judgingpanel’s decision, is the youngest representative of the Czech Republic ever togo to Monte Carlo in June for the World Finals,” said Magdalena Souček, managingpartner of EY in the Czech Republic and part of the Central and SoutheastEurope Region, adding: “I believe Oliver willbe a very valuable source of inspiration for all those who are hesitant tostart a business. I’m convinced his story will also impress the jury of theMonte Carlo World Finals. We’re still waiting for the winners from the CEEregion. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for Oliver to place first, though thecompetition in Monaco will be intense.”

Oliver Dlouhý will represent the Czech Republic at the competition’sworld finals to take place 4 - 7 June 2020 in Monte Carlo. National winnersfrom some 60 countries will vie for the title of EY World Entrepreneur Of TheYear. Since 2001, no entrepreneur from Central and Eastern Europe has ever beennamed the international winner. The winners of the last four years are from theUSA (2019), Brazil (2018), Canada (2017) and Australia (2016). For a fulloverview of world winners, see https://podnikatelroku.cz/monte-carlo

Winner profile:

EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 České republiky a EY EntrepreneurOf The Year 2019 Jihomoravského kraje

Oliver Dlouhý, Kiwi.com s.r.o.

Some years ago, Oliver Dlouhý and his girlfriend were looking forflights to Portugal. They found a good number of tickets through various searchengines, all of them too expensive. In an effort to get where they wanted to gofor less, they began to try all possible flight combinations of low-costairlines manually. Their trip, with several transfers, consisted of multipletickets and cost about a quarter of a ticket from Prague to Portugal with thecheapest vendor. Nobody at the time had a comprehensive system for searchingand connecting flights of non-cooperating airlines, and it immediately occurredto Dlouhý that with successful automation, it could be a highly promisingbusiness. He took the CZK 50,000 he had saved, found a partner and in 2012launched the SkyPicker portal for the sale of airline tickets composed ofunique flight combinations. Several years later, he changed the name toKiwi.com.

The company has gone from a small Brno-based start-up to what is now aglobal firm with almost a thousand employees in eighteen branch offices aroundthe world. Another two thousand people work for Kiwi.com externally. The headoffice remains in Brno, as does a part of the customer service and developmentoperations. Despite the company’s rapid growth, it has held on to its open andfriendly atmosphere. Dlouhý tries to serve as an example, never ceasing to growand develop and constantly motivating staff with his ideas and long-term vision.

Every day, Kiwi.com processes some 100 million searches; annual turnoverin 2018 was nearly CZK 30 million. More than 40% of turnover is generated inEurope, a quarter in America, the rest in Asia. In addition to air tickets, thesystem offers ground transport. In Europe alone, it works with around 60carriers, whose numbers continue to grow. The company takes great pride in itscustomer service, which it considers to be a great competitive advantage.Customers are looked after from start to finish. No matter what combination ofcarriers people buy, Kiwi.com guarantees it will deliver them to theirdestination, even in the event of a delay or cancellation of a connection.

Dlouhý doesn’t hide the fact that the business wasstarted primarily for the profit motive. When it started to thrive, hismotivation changed and the financial side ceased to be so important. Today, heprimarily wants to improve the world around him through his actions. Inaddition to his constant efforts to make travel more accessible and easier, heis deeply engaged in the issue of transport sustainability and activelyinvolved in several projects in this field. Elon Musk is a great role model forhim.

Oliver Dlouhý defines Kiwi.com as a “virtual global super-carrier” andhis dream is to aggregate the entire world of transport so that the customercan simply make the best journey from any point A to any point B anywhere inthe world, no matter the means of travel. From taxi to plane to shared bikes orscooters.

The other EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 Czech Republicfinalists were announced:

Vít Kutnar, DEK a.s.
Alessandro Pasquale, Mattoni 1873 a.s.
Libor Musil, LIKO-S, a.s.
Vlastimil Sedláček, SEKO Aerospace, a.s.

The profiles of the otherfinalists can be found in Annex 2 to this press release.

Michal Tresner, owner ofcybersecurity company ThreatMark s.r.o.,was named EY Technology Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019.

Michal Tresner has spent his entirecareer working in cybersecurity, which also happens to be his hobby. In thepast, he worked in consulting, testing the security of many different systemsas an ethical hacker. The fight against cybercriminals is like a game of catand mouse, where the mouse in the form of an attacker usually has the upperhand. Most security technologies work with previous attacks or attempts, try tolearn from them and avoid them in the future. Tresner and his colleague at thattime came up with the idea of fighting cybercrime in the opposite way – basedon correct user behavior in the online environment. They developed software foralmost a year and approached an investor with a prototype. He liked the ideaand decided to invest money in the start-up ThreatMark. Their softwaredetermines whether users are legitimate or fraudulent by detecting variationsin their online behavior. It focuses primarily on banks, specifically internetbanking, an area of great interest to cybercriminals. A unique technologicalsolution operates on computers and mobile devices and works with hundreds ofvariables. From classical parameters in the form of location and device type,through the usual user steps in the application, to behavioral biometry. Forexample, it evaluates how fast users type on a keyboard, how they move themouse, or how much they move their fingers on the touch screen. This is whereThreatMark has almost no competition in the world. The company's main advantageis that it offers banks a comprehensive anti-fraud solution in the onlineworld. From detecting threats and fraudulent transactions to identityvalidation.

It was not easy at the start; Tresnermainly struggled with the distrust of banks. A young start-up withoutreferences had to convince large financial institutions that their solution wasnot only beneficial, but above all, as safe as possible. This was eventuallyachieved thanks to several partner companies. Since its establishment in 2015,ThreatMark has been steadily growing and today is the most widely used solutionfor online fraud identification in Czech and Slovak banks. Recently, thecompany has partnered with a large international banking group for which itdelivers solutions to nine European countries, and thanks to its foreignpartners, it already has customers in Canada and Africa. It is currentlylooking for another investor to help with international expansion.

Every year, ThreatMark invests nearly70 percent of its profits in research and development. In addition to banking,Tresner also wants to focus on other industries in the future and aims toenhance both safety and user comfort. He believes that his technology will soonallow reliable authentication without the need to enter any passwords, codes orfingerprint readings.

Václav Staněk, whosecompany Vasky trade s.r.o. produces handmade leather shoes andaccessories, was named EY Start-upEntrepreneur Of The Year 2019 andalso won theMF DNES and iDNES.cz Readers’ Prize for BestEntrepreneurial Story of 2019.

Václav Staněk dreamed of having hisown company since childhood. As a native of Zlín, a great admirer of Tomáš Baťaand the son of a shoemaker, he played with the idea of his own brand of shoes. Hedevoured the professional business literature, and additionally competed insports and was a multiple national champion in the 800 meters. A few years ago,however, he had to suddenly end his promising running career due to illness. Atthat moment, he decided to fully venture into business, and a few days afterhis eighteenth birthday founded the brand Vasky trade. His shoemaker fathertried to dissuade him from the idea at first, but because he liked Václav’s suggestions,he placed his workshop at his son’s disposal.

Václav introduced the first pair ofhand-stitched cowhide shoes in 2015 and after a few months won a start-up competition.Over the four years of its existence, it sold over 13,000 pairs of shoes, andat twenty-two Staněk has a team of thirty people working under him. Vasky isgrowing by nearly 200 percent year-on-year and has its branded stores in Zlín,Prague, Brno and Ostrava. The average employee age is around 25. Besides a passion for the product, friendshipand a belief in the company, employees also enjoy a high degree of freedom: everyemployee is a proud Vasky ambassador.

Václav Staněk is building on the Batatradition and, as such, endeavouring to develop and popularize shoemaking. Eachpair of shoes is handmade in Zlín and passes through the hands of up to 12people. Women's and men's formal shoes and hiking boots are offered and inaddition to finished models, Vasky offers customers the option of custom shoes.From color, stitching and sole to monogramming. In addition to focussing on qualityand sustainability, Vasky also minimizes production waste. Small accessoriesare made from leather remnants. Currently, Vaclav is working intensively on hisown sneaker line, which should be launched in 2020. He believes that sneakerswill help the brand penetrate new markets. The vast majority of existingcustomers are in the Czech Republic; in the near future, the company ispreparing to expand to neighbouring countries.

After shoemaking, Václav starteddoing business in other market segments, becoming involved in companiesproducing leather handbags and backpacks, industrial furniture and women'sunderwear. Last year, he co-founded an agency that helps not only with the marketingand branding of Vasky and others, but also with employee development. In hisspare time, Václav continues to be into running and traveling. Indeed, it’swhen he’s on the go that he gets the most ideas.

Since2006, EY has awarded a prize for social entrepreneurship. Cousins Antonín Nekvinda and Josef Suchár of civic association Sdružení Neratov, z.s. were named EYSocial Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019

An unforgettable place “at the end ofthe world” with an exceptional atmosphere. That – or something like it – is howmost visitors describe the village of Neratov, located in the Eagle Mountains[Orlické hory] near the Polish border. In just the last year, some fortythousand visitors have come. It had taken little for Neratov to become a forgottenplace, as did many other displaced Sudeten villages in the country’s borderregion. In the late 1980s, however, it was discovered by Catholic pastor JosefSuchár, who decided to return life to the abandoned village and restore theBaroque church that served as a pilgrimage site. All this with the help ofpeople with intellectual disabilities, for whom he wanted to build a pleasantplace to work and live. In 1992, he founded the civic association SdruženíNeratov together with several others and the revitalization work began. Suchár’scousin Antonín Nekvinda joined the association in 2012. The long-time formerinsurance company director was originally supposed to have only a formal role,but so enthused by the activities of Sdružení Neratov, he decided to play an activerole in the project and help it evolve and achieve maximum financialindependence. He recalls with a smile that his pastor cousin’s first response whenlearning of his plans was to make the sign of the cross.

Sdružení Neratov’s main activity isto provide sheltered housing and a day-care center for people with variousdegrees of mental disability. In addition, it runs a primary school forchildren with multiple disabilities and continuously repairs and enhances theNeratov church, which has become a sought-after pilgrimage site. Due in largepart to Nekvinda, the activities are largely financed from their own socialentrepreneurship. Right in Neratov, the Association operates shelteredworkshops and facilities for visitors – a shop, accommodation, kitchen,restaurant, laundry and horticulture. In 2017, the Association opened its ownmicrobrewery and is currently completing a community hall with a large hall andaccommodation in the village, which should satisfy the growth in visitor interest.Thanks to the activities of the Association, a number of social events, such asweddings, are held year round in Neratov. The Association runs other shelteredworkshops in neighboring towns and villages, including bakery, ceramics,weaving and assembly operations.

Today, Sdružení Neratov has nearly 60full-time and 200 part-time staff. More than half of the employees are peoplewith disabilities. Over 200 volunteers also help with operations anddevelopment, and the number of job applicants is constantly growing.

In addition to the region’s furtherenhancement, the Association’s main objective is the sustainability and maximumself-sufficiency of village life for people with and without disabilities. Overthe next five years, it aims to cover at least three quarters of the cost ofrunning its social services from its own earnings. Sdružení Neratov is alreadya great model for many other social projects in the Czech Republic and abroad.

Thisyear, the Czech Television Award for EntrepreneurialContribution to Culture and the Arts was awarded for the fourth time inthe history of the competition. It went to OndřejKobza of the company Zahrada nastřeše s.r.o.

Ondřej Kobza started to do businessin the field of culture as a teenager in the 1990s. Dissatisfied with the offeringof cultural activities in his home town of Ústí nad Orlicí, he and his friendsrented an old clubhouse and started organizing events where, over time, peoplefrom all over the world came together. He continued organizing lectures andpilgrimages. In 2010, he opened the Café V lese in Prague's Vršovice and helpedto start the revitalization of Krymská Street, soon to become a sought-after destination.He garnered broader public awareness three years later with the project Pianoson the Street. He placed pianos in five different public places around Pragueand asked that people play. Gradually, the project expanded to other cities,and pianos were followed by chess tables and so-called poesiomats, which recitepoetry upon request. Later, he started organizing concerts in unusual places,for example in the Main Post Office building in Jindřišská Street. By doing so,he tries to show that culture does not only have to take place in established,purpose-built institutions.

Kobza’s most notable recentachievements are the spaces for the Šesťák gatherings at Dejvice's VictorySquare and the Střecha Lucerny. This is also the most expensive of the projects.In 2014, Kobza acquired the roof space of the Lucerna Palace in central Prague.During the building’s construction, it was planned that the roof would be usedfor social events, but this original intention was eventually dropped, and itremained closed to the public for almost a hundred years. Kobza breathed newlife into it and in 2016 the roof began gradually to welcome visitors.Nowadays, social events, concerts, yoga lessons and exhibitions are regularlyheld on the Lucerna roof. In the future, Kobza would like to revitalize andmake more roofs available across the country.

What links all Ondřej Kobza'sprojects is the cultivation and revitalization of existing public spaces andwhat he calls “subtle interventions in the appearance of cities and places”. Throughhis activities, he endeavors to show that public places can be improved andfavorably influenced even without extensive financial resources. His aim is toinspire people of all ages not only to be more receptive to their surroundings,but also to embark on projects similar to his and transform the world aroundthem for the better.

Kobza successfully combines businesswith the non-profit sector. In addition to the café in Vršovice, he alsooperates Café Neustadt in the New Town Hall building and co-owns the enterprisena Náplavce. Profits from cafes and events are used to finance non-profitactivities. He says he does business to make money and makes money to invest inother projects.

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EY Entrepreneur OfThe Year 2019 partners

The official car of the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019competition is BMW Group Czech Republic.

Raiffeisenbank is acompetition partner. The main co-organizer isthe daily MF DNES and iDNES.cz. The main media partner is CzechTelevision; other media partners are Forbes Magazine and the Info.cz news portal. The contest is supportedby CzechInvest and held under the auspices of the Czech Chamber of Commerce.

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Press Release Annexes:

1. Judging panel

2. Finalist profiles

3. Regional winners

4. Overview of national winners of the EY Entrepreneur Of TheYear competition

5. EY Entrepreneur Of The Year competition rules

About EY Entrepreneur Of The Year

EY Entrepreneur Of The Year is theworld's most prestigious business competition that pays tribute to outstandingpersonalities.

Its aim is to introduce the public toextraordinary personal examples in the field of business that can serve asmodels for young, start-up entrepreneurs. The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year isdesigned to be international, so the criteria for assessing each participantare comparable in each country. Currently the only world-renowned competitionof its kind, it is regularly held in almost 60 countries on six continents. Formore information, go to www.podnikatelroku.cz

About EY

EY je přednímcelosvětovým poskytovatelem odborných poradenských služeb v oblasti auditu,daní, transakčního
a podnikového poradenství. Znalost problematiky a kvalita služeb, kteréposkytujeme, přispívají k posilování důvěry
v kapitálové trhy i v ekonomiky celého světa. Výjimečný lidský a odbornýpotenciál nám umožňuje hrát významnou roli při vytváření lepšího prostředí pronaše zaměstnance, klienty i pro širší společnost.

Název EY zahrnuje celosvětovou organizaci a můžezahrnovat jednu či více členských firem Ernst & Young Global Limited, znichž každá je samostatnou právnickou osobou. Ernst & Young Global Limited,britská společnost s ručením omezeným garancí, služby klientům neposkytuje. Propodrobnější informace o naší organizaci navštivte prosím naše webové stránky www.ey.com/CZ.

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Annex No. 1

The main Judging Panel of the EY EntrepreneurOf The Year 2019 Czech Republic competition selectsthe national competiton winner, the regional winners and the EY Start-upEntrepreneur Of The Year

EY Entrepreneur Of The Year JudgingPanel members

Radka Prokopová, Alca plast, EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2018
Zdeněk Pelc, GZ Media, EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2015
František Piškanin, HOPI, Entrepreneur OfThe Year 2012
Eduard Kučera, AVAST Software, EntrepreneurOf The Year 2009
Vladimír Kovář, Unicorn, EntrepreneurOf The Year 2008
Pavel Juříček,BRANO GROUP, Entrepreneur Of The Year 2006
Zbyněk Frolík,LINET, Entrepreneur Of The Year 2003
Petr Šmída, ENERN, investor
Tomáš Ventura, iDNES.cz, deputy editor-in-chief
Michal Půr,Info.cz, editor-in-chief
Petr Šimůnek,Forbes, editor-in-chief

Advisory Forum

Lubomír Stoklásek, AGROSTROJ Pelhřimov, EY Entrepreneur Of The Year2017
Petr Chmela, TESCOMA, EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2016
Vlastislav Bříza, KOH-I-NOOR holding,EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2014
Jiří Hlavatý, JUTA, EY EntrepreneurOf The Year 2013
Jannis Samaras, Kofola, EntrepreneurOf The Year 2011
Valdemar Walach, WALMARK, EntrepreneurOf The Year 2010
Miroslav Řihák, ANECT, Entrepreneur Of The Year 2004
Kvido Štěpánek, Isolit-Bravo, Entrepreneur Of The Year 2002
Ivan Pilný, digital education agent
Vladimír Dlouhý, president, Czech Chamber ofCommerce
Petr Koblic, managing director, PragueStock Exchange

JudgingPanel for the category EY Technology Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019

Jaroslav Klíma, Judging Panel Chair,TESCAN ORSAY HOLDING, Technology Entrepreneur Of The Year 2011
Jan Hvížďala, JHV - ENGINEERING,EY Technology Entrepreneur Of The Year 2017
Vladimír Velebný, holding CONTIPRO,EY Technology Entrepreneur Of The Year 2014
Karel Volenec, ELLA-CS, TechnologyEntrepreneur Of The Year 2012
Václav Muchna, Y Soft Corporation,Technology Entrepreneur Of The Year 2010
Josef Suska, HOKAMI CZ, Technology Entrepreneur Of TheYear 2007
Pavel Baudiš, AVAST Software

Judging Panel for the category EY Social EntrepreneurOf The Year 2019

Vít Ježek, REKOLA Bikesharing, EY Social Entrepreneur Of The Year 2017
Tomáš Masopust, Portus Praha, EY Social Entrepreneur Of TheYear 2016
Tereza Jurečková, Pragulic – Poznej Prahu jinak!, EY SocialEntrepreneur Of The Year 2014
Drahoslava Kabátová, Letohrádek Vendula, Social Entrepreneur OfThe Year 2008
Jiří Bárta, NADACE VIA
Jakub Knězů, Etincelle, EY Social Entrepreneur Of The Year 2018

CzechTelevision Prize for Entrepreneurial Contribution to Culture and the Arts

JudgingPanel:

Petr Dvořák,managing director, Czech Television
Aleš Najbrt,creative director, Studio Najbrt
Daniel Bárta,singer, librettist and photographer
Jan Školník, owner, HOBRA-Školník; founder, Broumov DevelopmentAgency and EY Social Entrepreneur Of The Year 2013
Radana Waldová, co-owner and managing director, Wald Press, holderof the Czech Television Prize for EntrepreneurialContribution to Culture and the Arts2016
Čestmír Vančura – Kovárna VIVA, holder of the Czech Television Prize for EntrepreneurialContribution to Culture and the Arts2018

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AnnexNo. 2

Finalist profiles

National finalists andwinner of the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 Czech Republic competition:

Oliver Dlouhý, Kiwi.com s.r.o.(for profile, see p. 2 above)
Alessandro Pasquale, Mattoni 1873 a.s.
Libor Musil, LIKO-S, a.s.
Vlastimil Sedláček, SEKOAerospace, a.s.

Finalist, national round of the EY EntrepreneurOf The Year 2019 competition

EY EntrepreneurOf The Year 2019 Central BohemiaRegion

Vít Kutnar,DEK a.s.

Even as a child, Vít Kutnar had an entrepreneurial spirit. Whether itwas selling rabbits, collecting herbs or photographing his classmates, he wasfascinated by his ability to create something. He considered the money heearned to be a pleasant bonus, not a primary objective of his activities.Indeed, it was his desire to create that led him to the idea of setting up acompany for the sale of waterproofing materials as a Czech Tech student in 1993.His experience abroad and instincts suggested he had chosen the right business.He started out with two friends in a garage and used all the money he had madefrom temporary jobs to start the company, plus CZK 150,000 from his parents,which was almost all their life savings. He was able to pay it all back in justa year. Today, DEK has a number of subsidiaries, more than 2.5 thousandemployees and is a leader in the building materials market in the CzechRepublic. In addition to the sale and distribution of building and wiringmaterials through 120 branches in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, DEK operatesa machine and tool rental business. As Kutnar himself says, the combination ofrental and sales is their great competitive advantage and growth driver. Onewould be hard-pressed to find a similar set-up in the Czech Republic oranywhere else in the world.

DEK turnover has been growing in recent years,reaching CZK 20 billion in 2019. Its virtually unshakable market position andgrowth lies in continuous innovation and service improvement. DEK has thoughtthrough everything to the last detail and comes up with something new and freshevery year. The company’s pride and joy is its online catalogue of all goodsbroken down by construction area. The company is also hard at work ondigitizing construction. An easy-to-use program allows customers to select andconfigure everything they need from the catalogue and use a 3D model to findout how long construction will take and how much it will cost. Kutnar admitsthat while continuous innovation and growth sometimes inhibit efficiency, itnevertheless suits the company, which is built on innovation.

Although the number of employees exceeds 2,000,DEK is a welcoming company with a friendly atmosphere. Continuous education isa matter of course and employees are among the best paid in the field. Thanksto this, the company has long-term low staff turnover. DEK is attracting newpeople from, among others, the ranks of students and graduates of CzechTechnical University and the University of Technology, with whom it cooperates extensively.In addition to his former wife, who is a co-owner, Kutnar's children are slowlybecoming involved in the company. In his capacity as director, he primarilyseeks to inspire and consult.

He devotes his free time to family and sports. Businesshas taught him much, but from the beginning he has kept his optimism, trust inpeople and reluctance to choose life and business shortcuts. His goal is forpeople – employees and customers – to benefit as much as possible from thecompany’s success.

Finalist, national round of the EYEntrepreneur Of The Year 2019 competition

EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 KarlovyVary Region

Alessandro Pasquale,Mattoni 1873 a.s.

Alessandro Pasquale says, with some exaggeration, that there was noother option but to start a business. His father left a successful beveragebusiness in Italy in the early 1990s and bought the Mattoni factory in Kyselkanear Karlovy Vary that had been run into the ground by the communist regime. Thecompany, which was founded in 1873 by Karlovy Vary native Heinrich Mattoni,gradually got back on its feet. Alessandro became involved almost immediatelyand never regretted his decision. He started out as an apprentice and graduallytook on more responsibility. He led the Dobrá voda brand for a while and tookover the management of the entire group twelve years ago as part of agenerational change. At that time, the family received an interesting offer tobuy the entire company, but Alessandro opposed it, and in the end convinced thefamily to hold on to it.

Today, Mattoni 1873 is the largest CentralEuropean soft drink manufacturer with annual production of nearly two billionbottles. The Group has twelve production plants and employs over three thousandpeople in eight countries. In addition to natural mineral and spring waters, italso produces other soft drinks and juices, and a few years ago, entered thesnack segment. In addition to the Mattoni brand, the portfolio includesMagnesia, Aquila, Dobrá voda, Poděbradka, Haná mineral water, Schweppes,Granini and Yo syrups. The products are exported to more than twenty countriesworldwide, not only in Europe, but also North America, Asia, the ArabianPeninsula and Australia. The annual turnover of Mattoni 1873 exceeds eightbillion crowns.

The company has invested considerable amounts intechnology and innovation in the long term. In recent years, it has beenintensively engaged in sustainable production and applied the principles ofcircular economy. While Pasquale's father came up with the ergonomic shape ofthe bottles as we know them today, a few years ago Pasquale introduced aneco-bottle made from material containing 30 percent of ingredients of plantorigin. All PET bottles produced at the factory are fully recyclable. Thecompany is also involved in ecology and environmental protection as part of itssocially responsible activities. In addition, it supports research, educationand a number of cultural and sporting events such as marathons.

Mattoni 1873 is a family business and Pasqualetakes great pride in good relationships, trust and an ethical approach acrossthe company. His dream is to run and develop the company for the next twentyyears and then hand leadership over to his sons. He wants to leave the decisionto them, but he believes they will be interested in the family business. Justlike he was years ago.

Finalist, national round of the EYEntrepreneur Of The Year 2019 competition

Libor Musil, LIKO-S, a.s.

Libor Musil graduated in mechanical engineering and at the end of the eightieshad a promising career as a technologist in a state enterprise. Immediatelyafter the Revolution, however, he took advantage of the newly acquired freedomin his working life, gave his notice, and in 1990 started a business with hisfather-in-law, who was a builder. They built buildings all over Europe and hadabout three hundred employees, but Musil was drawn back to engineering andtherefore founded a manufacturing company for prefabricated systems. Thebeginnings were wild. Musil borrowed considerable start-up capital, failed tomanage growth and saw the company nearly collapse in the 1990s. In order torepay his huge debts, he mortgaged all his property and for years worked underenormous pressure. In the end, almost impossibly, he came through it, and since2005 the company has been entirely self-financed. Today, LIKO-S has annualturnover of about one billion crowns. The company operates in two sectors, inboth of which it is the absolute leader, and owns several patents and utilitymodels.

The construction division is dedicated to theconstruction of indoor buildings and the production of interior mobilepartitions, where it ranks among the top ten manufacturers in the world. Thelatest achievement is a touch screen that acts like a laptop. In the area ofindoor buildings, it has been focusing on ecological green buildings in recentyears. Recently, LIKO-S opened the world's first living hall that can cool thesurroundings by up to ten degrees. The engineering division specializes inhigh-tech welding lines. It delivers to laboratories and companies from thefood processing, pharmaceutical and metallurgy industries all over the world. Musil'sproducts can be found not only in almost all of the world's KFC and McDonald'slocations, but also at CERN in Switzerland.

In addition to its headquarters in Slavkov uBrna, the company has branches in Prague, Bratislava, Budapest and Bangalore,India. Musil employs over 200 people and considers employees the key tosuccess. Therefore, he regularly invests in their development and education. Motivationis also important for him, so he introduced a unique remuneration system –employees themselves set their salary. The core of the company is the Musilfamily. His wife has been working in the company almost from the start and isstill in charge of the HR department. A couple of years ago, both childrenjoined and they are gradually taking over the entire operation. His son is nowa division manager, and his daughter an HR manager.

For Musil, the theme of ecology andsustainability is not only about business, it is also a major hobby andcommitment. He invests considerable resources in development, technology andgeneral education, lectures at conferences and is one of two entrepreneurs toever become a laureate of the Josef Vavroušek Award, which has been awarded formore than twenty years for a specific environmental benefit. In his free timehe enjoys sports and his own farm.

Finalist, national round of the EYEntrepreneur Of The Year 2019 competition

EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 ÚstíRegion

Vlastimil Sedláček, SEKOAerospace, a.s.

Vlastimil Sedláček’s father was an extremely enterprising person and agreat technician. From the time they were little, he took his two sons to theworkshop daily and thought up jobs for them to do. Back then, Sedláček wasn’ttoo happy, but he is grateful to his father now and sees him as a role model. Itturned out he inherited both technical talent and creativity, so as soon aspossible after the Revolution, he went into business. He traveled throughEurope, found a unique timeless machine tool, and in 1991 founded SEKO in Louny.Although he had two young sons at the time, he mortgaged his house and garagefor the business. The first years were difficult. He got up daily at three inthe morning and tirelessly stopped in at potential partners across the country.He had no employees besides finance people, so he involved both of his barelyteenage sons. With some exaggeration, he says that the younger of them thenbecame the youngest operator in the country. For the first 14 years, thecompany grew slowly, then growth accelerated and in recent years turnover hasgrown annually by about one fifth. In 2018, it reached almost 800 millioncrowns. Both Sedláček's sons are still with the company today. One is a plantdirector, the other is a trader. His daughter works in the HR department.

SEKO currently has more than 600 employees. Inaddition to its three locations in the Czech Republic, it has branches andoffices in India, Italy, Germany and Brazil. Sedláček is one of the mostsuccessful Czech entrepreneurs on the local market. SEKO focuses on the energyand aerospace industries and is primarily engaged in the production of keycomponents for aircraft engines and steam turbines. It is one of the worldleaders in both sectors. It works with all key global manufacturers ofaircraft, aircraft engines and power turbines. Parts from Sedláček's companyare found in 97 percent of newly manufactured aircraft and in hundreds ofturbines worldwide.

According to Sedlacek, continuous innovation isthe key to success. He tries to think up something new every day. He invests considerableresources in innovation and robotization every year. Thanks to this, thecompany boasts highly sophisticated production, which has no competition in ourcountry. He is also building a solar yacht.

Within the framework of social responsibility, SEKOhelps to improve the places where it operates. Most especially the home base ofLouny. It supports school development, culture and sport and sponsors a localfootball club. It also has a small aircraft museum in Louny and its own zoo,which is visited by about 2.5 thousand children annually.

Due to the uncertain future direction of energy,Sedláček now focuses primarily on the development of aviation. Flying is alsohis main hobby. He flies a helicopter in his free time and also for businesstrips. He devotes the remaining time off to his grandchildren. His major goalis to hand over a thriving, debt-free business to children.

Annex No. 3

Regional winners

EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 Central Bohemia Region (for profile, see above) Vít Kutnar, DEK a.s. EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 South Moravia Region (for profile, see above) Oliver Dlouhý, Kiwi.com, s.r.o. EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 Karlovy Vary Region (for profile, see above) Alessandro Pasquale, Mattoni 1873 a.s. EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 Ustí Region (for profile, see above) Vlastimil Sedláček, SEKO Aerospace, a.s. EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 Prague Jan Fidler, Petr Němec, SEBRE Holding a.s. EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 Olomouc Region Petra Pohořská, ABO valve, s.r.o. EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 Zlín Region Antonín Machala, ALTECH, spol. s.r.o. EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 Plzeň Region Jiří Soukup, Keramika Soukup a.s. EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 Vysočina Region Tomáš Vránek, ICE Industrial Services a.s. EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 Hradec Králové Region Josef Hronovský, HRONOVSKÝ s.r.o.

Annex No. 4

EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Czech Republicnational title holders

2019: Oliver Dlouhý, Kiwi.com s.r.o.

2018: Radka Prokopová and František Fabičovic, Alca plast

2017: Lubomír Stoklásek, AGROSTROJ Pelhřimov

2016: Petr Chmela, TESCOMA

2015: Zdeněk Pelc, GZ Digital Media

2014: Vlastislav Bříza, KOH-I-NOOR

2013: Jiří Hlavatý, JUTA

2012: František Piškanin, HOPI

2011: Jannis Samaras, Kofola

2010: Mariusz, Adam and Valdemar Walachové, WALMARK

2009: Eduard Kučera, AVAST Software

2008: Vladimír Kovář, Unicorn

2007: Tomáš Březina, BEST

2006: Pavel Juříček, BRANO Group

2005: Radim Jančura, STUDENT AGENCY

2004: Miroslav Řihák, ANECT

2003: Zbyněk Frolík, LINET

2002: Kvido Štěpánek, ISOLIT-BRAVO

2001: Zdeněk Jandejsek, RABBIT Trhový Štěpánov

2000: Kateřina Janků, MORAVIA IT

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Annex No. 5

EY Entrepreneur Of The Year competitionrules

Judging panel decisions are guided by internationally validrules. The main evaluation criteria include strategic orientation, global reachand of course the company's financial results, which are a clear indicator of acompany's health and growth. The evaluation process is complex and takes intoaccount, apart from economic data, the competitor's personality and businessstory. Among other things, the judges also focus on the entrepreneurial spiritof nominees, their honesty and probity, and their non-business activities inthe company or region.

The EY Entrepreneur OfThe Year Czech Republic invites nominees who are entrepreneurs – naturalpersons, owners or co-owners of a business company, who have a decisiveinfluence on its management and who actively operate in its management. Thegiven company must have existed for at least two years (must be able to presenttwo complete financial statements) and have at least eight full-time employees.Anyone can nominate or send in a tip about an entrepreneur, including acolleague, customer, employee or relative. The Best Entrepreneur of theCzech Republic will represent our country at the global finals of thecompetition on 4-7 June 2020 in Monaco and vie for the EY World Entrepreneur OfThe Year title.

EY Technology Entrepreneur Of TheYear

The EY Technology Entrepreneur Of TheYear category includes any competition participant whose company creates oruses technology in an innovative way. Applications for this category are judgedby an expert judging panel that considers whether modern technologies aresuccessfully integrated into business processes, whether they significantlyaffect the economic success of the company, and whether the company has along-term strategy for using modern technologies.

EY Start-up Entrepreneur Of The Year

An entrepreneur who has not reachedthe age of 30 as of 31 December 2019 or the total duration of whose businessactivity does not exceed 5 years (i.e. who went into business after 1 January2014) can apply for this category.

EY Social EntrepreneurOf The Year

Entrepreneurs who applybusiness principles in practice to address societal challenges can apply.Entrepreneurship for socially beneficial entrepreneurs is about introducingpractical, innovative approaches focusing on essential issues that often remainmarginal to society's interest and should provide a practical and viablealternative to charity or state support in the area.

CzechTelevision Prize for Entrepreneurial Contribution to Culture and the Arts

Thecompetition for the Czech Television Award for Entrepreneurial Contribution toCulture and the Arts may include any participant in the competition thatfinancially or materially supports projects that are part of the cultivation ofCzech public life through art (music festivals, exhibition activities, etc.),but also projects focussed on the public space (landscape management, culturalheritage, architecture etc.). Support for these projects is not the subject ofentrepreneurial activity of the entrepreneur and is not realized for profit.

Best Entrepreneurial Story

The main co-organizer of thecompetition, the MAFRA media group, has been announcing a reader's poll for the“Best Entrepreneurial Story” since 2011. The editors of MF DNES selects eightfinalists from the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year competition participants whoseprofiles it publishes. Readers of iDNES.cz and MF DNES will then vote for thebest entrepreneurial story of the past year.