Special edition newsletter
Invest in Montenegro - A Smart Choice for Bold Visions
Vladimir and Petar Veličković, founders of the company Bravera - After the largest retail park, we want to build a high-class hotel in Bijelo Polje
The brothers Vladimir and Petar Veličković (Photo: Bravera)
This successful business story began in the early nineties, and despite numerous challenges, Bravera grew from a one-employee company into a large family-owned company known throughout the region. What is the secret of their success? First of all, in love, our interlocutors say. Love for the family, but also for the hometown. Because they have shown how much they love their city and all the people in it with the numerous projects they have initiated, but which they are still planning to implement.
When you founded Bravera in 1991, what was your biggest motivation and biggest fear? How did you manage to maintain and develop the company in those challenging times when many gave up?
- Although it was a period when social enterprises operated in the entire region and private entrepreneurship was just beginning to develop, the idea was born to try our hand at this new business world. The opening of a private enterprise gave some hope, but the chances of making something significant, besides large social enterprises, were very slim. While many chose security and a job in state-owned enterprises and institutions, we decided to take a step into the unknown.
We founded the company on July 12, 1991 and gave it the unique, short name BRAVERA. Everything is woven into the name itself: BRA-brothers VE-Veličković RA-Rasovo. The name is short, sonorous, and clear - and the meaning emphasizes fraternal harmony and love, as well as his native place, Rasovo.
Fear was also born because it was a journey into the unknown. Although engineers by profession, we started in the direction of trade and established cooperation with the then large state trading companies. The main motive was to provide a better life and better conditions for expanding the family.
Petar Veličković (Photo: Bravera)
- Each of our beginnings, including this one, contained planning and analysis, and that`s when the idea was born that a small company with one employee would someday become a reputable family company, but not on the scale it is today. We had no idea that we were about to start writing history. Brotherly love, the help of sisters (lawyer and economist), the vision of the construction and mechanical engineer brothers, were the backbone of the very beginning of the company.
The greatest desire and idea for the formation of a private company was given by older brother Vladimir. He came up with the name and gave the guidelines for the development of the family business, which the rest of us looked at in disbelief. It was also the first job for the younger brother.
That`s when the family began to expand, so a real struggle was being waged at the same time. The struggle for survival and existence as 1992 and 1993 come. War events in the region, hyperinflation, etc.
Our love for our hometown kept us going even then, so we only did business in Bijelo Polje and opened more retail stores in our city. Family harmony and love played a decisive role in the development of a successful business path, and as the children grew up, they supported us, got involved in the work and became important members of the family company.
Bravera City Park (Photo: Bravera)
The Nike Shop in Bijelo Polje was a big step forward – what did the opening of that facility mean to you in 1999? Did you feel at that time that you were creating something that would mark the north of Montenegro?
- The opening of that facility in that period was certainly the biggest thing up to that time. A big thing for our small company, our family, for our city and the whole north of Montenegro, because it was the only Nike shop in the north. At that time, Bijelo Polje shone on the map and was the only one in the region with a specialized shop of the world`s largest manufacturer of sports equipment.
The fact that we opened the Nike shop on March 2, 1999, and the bombing began on March 24 and brought many problems, shows that everything was difficult and uncertain back then. Difficult conditions for the procurement of goods, the introduction of sanctions and bans on imports, the mobilization of the local population and many other problems.
After a short period, this Nike shop grew into a multi-brand sports equipment shop, because at that time it was easier to get different brands and sell them than the world`s best brand.
How did the cooperation with Sport Vision come about and what does that partnership mean to you?
- In the first decade of business, we cooperated with several partners, distributors and sports equipment wholesalers. Along the way, we got to know the owners and people from Sport Vision (they had a different name then) and found great understanding and help in solving the problems we had in a small environment. Our business cooperation has grown into more of a fraternal than a business relationship. This is how we got the best partners and friends for life, which we are particularly proud of. Our cooperation has led us to the formation of a joint company in Montenegro and to results that are worthy of every respect.
Bravera City Park (Photo: Bravera)
Recently, Bravera City Park was opened in Bijelo Polje. What does this project mean for Bijelo Polje and northern Montenegro? What is your personal emotion when you know that you are building the largest retail park in Montenegro right in your hometown and right on the Vunk area, the former symbol of the city?
- After the expansion of our business and the opening of facilities outside our hometown, there was always a desire to somehow repay our city and to never forget our city. This is where we were born, grew up, made the best friends, formed families. This is where all our children were born. This is where our parents and our ancestors lived, which we are particularly proud of.
We rightly point out that there was always a desire, which came true this year. "A desire that returns the warmth of home, strong as a house and beautiful as a white field."
By investing this much in our city, we showed how much we love our hometown and all the people in it. We are giving Bijelo Polje a new shine and returning it to where it has been for centuries - an important shopping center and gathering place. Now, Bijelo Polje has the biggest retail park in Montenegro and the region. It once again becomes a regional shopping center where citizens of the whole region will gather, as well as tourists on their way to the sea.
Around 240 workers found employment here, and the contents were completed by over 30 companies with the same offer as the biggest shopping centers.
It is a special charm to be on the site of the former Vunko plant, which was a symbol of the Bjelopolje economy, but also of the entire country. Of course, we do not compare ourselves to that giant because he employed many workers and built Bijelo Polje, but for the last decade and longer, this area was in a very unenviable position and an area from which the eye was averted. Now it is a new gathering place and center of large events and events.
After only a few months of operation, the benefits of the municipality of Bijelo Polje and the entire north are clear.
What do you say to young people who want to build a business in small communities, but face big obstacles?
- We tell the younger generations that they should believe in success, but also to persevere because they will certainly encounter a lot of problems. The reality is that young people choose their own path, and along the way they are often separated from their families and their hometowns. It is a reality, but you should never neglect or forget about your family, your loved ones, your hometown.
We tell our young fellow citizens that everyone is guided by fate and the desire for a better life, but the homeland remains the most beautiful and sacred thing. When there is also the possibility of employment, the message is clear - you should stay or come back. Such people and such nature are not found anywhere. There are always ideas, and those who really want to work can live and create above the national average here.
Bravera City Park construction site (Photo: Bravera)
Your company is known for its donations and community support, so even the opening of Bravera City Park was marked by donations. How important is socially responsible business to you, and do you consider it a duty or a personal mission?
- As a small company with one employee, we always tried to help and donate. As we have grown into a successful company, our donations have become bigger and more frequent. We are of the opinion that it is the duty of every person and every institution, and above all it is a personal mission. The opening of Bravera City Park creates an opportunity to help the local community and individuals even more, especially the most vulnerable categories. A part of the profit is set aside for these purposes.
Do you think that Bijelo Polje is ready for even bigger investments and development projects? How do you envision the city in the next 10 - 20 years and where do you see Bravera on that path?
- Despite the fact that it is often mentioned that young people are leaving the north of Montenegro and that the number of inhabitants is decreasing, we believe that Bijelo Polje has a perspective and that it has good and serious individuals and companies ready for even bigger investments and development projects. Of course, even greater state support is needed.
Bijelo Polje has a great potential for tourism, hospitality and food production, so we are developing Bravera in that direction.
Bravera City Park (Photo: Bravera)
What are your plans for the following period? Are there any other projects in the pipeline in Bijelo Polje, and in the whole of Montenegro?
- Given that this was a big project for us, the continuation and realization of the next projects will go a little slower, but it is certain that another very important investment will soon begin at a location that is one of the best in Bijelo Polje, where we hope to build a high-class hotel with some of the renowned European names in the hotel industry with all the accompanying facilities.
Construction of sports fields and other facilities is also planned in the second phase of Bravera City Park.
Also, Bravera will soon start building an apartment-type facility in Žabljak and then in Podgorica.
Finally, we have a message for all future generations:
In difficult times and difficult circumstances, building a company was madness for many. When fraternal harmony, love and family are the foundation, everything that is built is illuminated by victory.
However, it is possible to make childhood dreams come true, even more than that...
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"Invest in Montenegro - A Smart Choice for Bold Visions"
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