Bratislava, 05 December 2017 – The idea of charity is one of the priorities of Slovakia’s largest bank, Slovenská sporiteľňa. Voluntary activities in various areas also featured as the main topic of 2017’s last meeting of the Erste Private Banking Ladies Business Club.
Michal Orlovský, the new Head of Erste Private Banking, opened this exceptional evening by welcoming the ladies. “Slovenská sporiteľňa has always aimed for higher goals. Supporting worthy causes that move our country forward is a step towards our aims,” he said. He also referred to the rules of the Ladies Business Club, which state that the club must be chaired by a woman: “Of course, we will respect that. The Ladies Business Club will be chaired by Jana Holíková, the member of the Erste Private Banking team who has always managed this forum.”
How successful companies can help
What do you think is the biggest problem in our country? If you answered poverty, you’re right. Nowadays, every tenth person in Slovakia is at direct risk of poverty. This one person in ten is very often a child, a person on disability benefits or someone who is socially excluded. “The gap between rich and poor is widening. On the other hand, the good news is that it is not just big multinational corporations that are working to change this, but also more and more Slovak firms. Some of them have even become inspirations to foreign companies,” said Lenka Surotchak, the executive director and founder of the Pontis Foundation, during discussion at the Ladies Business Club. This is clearly a good sign for our country. Difficult social situations demand strategic and innovative solutions. “If you help alleviate poverty, you help to end it once and for all.” added Lenka Surotchak. The Pontis Foundation helps companies to develop Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and recognises the best of the best with the prestigious annual Via Bona Slovakia Award. It also operates the donor portal DobraKrajina.sk, which helps firms to find and support some of the dozens of non-profit organisations fighting poverty. Another project of the Pontis Foundation is Generation 3.0, which promotes higher quality education in Slovakia. Surotchak says this area was chosen because “education is crucial to overcoming poverty.”
Support for small and medium-sized enterprises
Even a bank can support good causes. Slovakia’s largest bank is good evidence of this. The Ladies Business Club heard about this from Rastislav Blažej, who runs Slovenská sporiteľňa’s programme supporting new start-ups. “Our bank decided to get back to its roots in 2013. We selected the fight against poverty as a priority in the areas where the Bank provided charity support,” said Rastislav Blažej. “We launched a number of programmes to support nascent entrepreneurs, whose businesses must be a mainstay of efforts to eradicate poverty. We applied the same philosophy in launching further projects to finance social enterprises such as civil associations and non-profit organisations. In addition to communicating with entrepreneurs, we began to provide the same help to individuals who had problems repaying loans,” explained Rastislav Blažej. The bank also provides extensive support for training in financial literacy. This is a critical point because many start-ups have great ideas but do not have a clear idea of what a margin is or how to calculate costs and revenues correctly. “I must admit that we also talked some people out of starting a business. I consider that a success because their plan would not have ended well, and they would only have ended up in debt. However, we are helping around 15% of our clients to grow and financing their ideas. If they get into difficulties, they have mentors who explain to them where the problems are and how they can be solved.”
Support for creative industries
You will surely agree that young and creative people need support. The creative industries have exciting potential to contribute to the country’s economic development. One of the people who is helping creative professionals to grow is Dana Kleinert, a well-known fashion designer and the founder of the Slovak Fashion Council. She told the club how even in the chaotic 1990s it had been her dream to open a small shop. “That soon became a reality. Because I want other people’s dreams to come true too, I decided to go beyond my own creativity and create an ecosystem that could support them,” she said, explaining why she decided to set up the Slovak Fashion Council, which supports the promotion and development of fashion and textiles in Slovakia. “My team and I love breaking down stereotypes. Everyone thinks that fashion is about expensive models at balls and on catwalks. The truth is precisely the opposite. We teach the public to discover and appreciate local design, which is better in quality and closer to us; things have their own story here,” she said. The Slovak Fashion Council also runs refugee assistance projects. At Slovakia’s largest festival, Pohoda (with which Slovenská sporiteľňa has been partner for many years), Dana Kleinert et al. sewed baby slings for refugees. “We had grandmas, tattooed boys and tv celebrities all sewing together. We were sewing the baby slings non-stop for four days so that volunteers could distribute them to people escaping from war. This project showed that people want to help, and that help is returning to societies,” Dana Kleinert explained. In her view, the biggest problem for the fashion and design industry is that designers do not have an entrepreneurial spirit. They are not typical business people. But we can help them with that. We show them how business works in other countries and how they can take inspiration from it. We explain to them how to make a loan application that will be approved,” she explained.
Slovenská Sporiteľňa foundation and the support it provides
Team spirit and mutual assistance are extremely important. Someone who knows a lot about this is Danica Lacová, the Head of the Slovenská sporiteľňa foundation, which seeks to contribute to a better life and the development of civil society not only in Slovakia but in all the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. “Through our projects, we aim to make qualitative changes in education, support for the development of culture, science, sport, health, social assistance and environmental protection and improvement. Our major projects include Teach for Slovakia, whose philosophy is to recruit university graduates to spend two years in socially disadvantaged communities and dedicate themselves to children’s education as a teacher. We want to work together so that one day all children will get an education that gives them a chance to succeed in life. In the area of social inclusion, we provide financial support for the education of Roma families in eastern Slovakia, and for the League against Cancer’s “Daffodil Day” campaign. We engage in the development of culture by supporting theatres such as L + S in Bratislava, Andrej Bagar in Nitra, the Slovak Chamber Theatre in Martin and the State Theatre in Košice. We also support smaller initiatives on the local level,” added Danica Lacová. Of course, this is just a part of the projects that Slovenská sporiteľňa supports. Further information can be found on the Foundation’s website: www.slsp.sk/sk/nadacia
This evening for women and the Ladies Business Club had an overall theme of charity. Besides the interesting speakers and debates there was a charity auction that raised EUR 1,760 for the Natália rehabilitation centre in Hlohovec. As support for creative industries, the women watched presentations by outstanding Slovak designers such as the Veruba brass studio, Slávica, which is a shop specialising in original local design, international fashion design from the Ivana Rosová Fashion Group, the concept store for children Pán Medvedík, the designer brand Puojd, the fashion e-shop Saintdot and Zrnko organic foods.
What is the Erste Private Banking Ladies Business Club:
A forum for successful and influential Slovak women. Its aim is to present interesting topics and promote discussion of business trends and positive and negative experience in business and personal life. While Erste Private Banking has been organising various events for women for six years, the Women's Business Club now provides a regular platform for women in business to meet and inspire each other. The meetings are regularly enriched with exceptional experiences such as tastings and visits.
What is Erste Private Banking:
Top finance magazine The Banker ranks Erste Group amongst the best companies for private banking in Central and Eastern Europe. In Slovakia, Erste Private Banking manages assets with a value of over EUR 800 million for more than 1,500 clients.