Present in Bosnia and Herzegovina for more than 50 years, Coca-Cola continuously encourages excellence in business through its operations and directly and indirectly influences the creation of wider value for BiH society and economy. The new, fourth Study on the socio-economic impact of Coca-Cola in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2021 confirms this with precisely measured indicators that say that Coca-Cola directly creates 31 million BAM of added value, that is, every convertible mark created by Coca-Cola supports creation of another 4 BAM of added value in the economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition, Coca-Cola indirectly supports another 131 million BAM in the economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The total value of Coca-Cola's direct and indirect influence in the form of wages, taxes and profits in 2021 amounted to 162 million BAM, which is 0.45% of the GDP of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
These are just some of the key findings of the fourth Study on the socio-economic impact of Coca-Cola in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2021, which was presented today in front of representatives of relevant institutions, governmental and non-governmental sectors, H.E. US Ambassador Michael J. Murphy, representatives of academia, business associations, community, business partners and media.
"Through more than five decades of our activity in Bosnia and Herzegovina, we have worked to raise the level of excellence and create wider value in Coca-Cola, but also throughout our entire value chain. We are involved in the community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and through our business, partly directly and partly through cooperation with our customers and suppliers, we make a significant contribution to the Bosnian economy and society. We have achieved every success by remaining consistent with the principles of sustainability and socially responsible business, which are key elements of Coca-Cola's business culture, on which all our decisions and long-term investments are based. Our successes are the result of the joint work of all involved stakeholders in our value chain, and our goal is to return every joint success to the community through the added value of our business," said Ruža Tomić Fontana, General Manager of Coca-Cola HBC Adria.
Coca-Cola's investments in community projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the period between 2017 and 2021 amounted to 671 thousand BAM. In 2021 alone, Coca-Cola invested 286 thousand BAM in the community: 135 thousand BAM was invested in environmental protection projects, 88 thousand BAM was invested in health and well-being projects, 63 thousand BAM was invested in youth support projects.
"The United States of America is a dedicated partner to Bosnia and Herzegovina and the private sector here. Furthermore, I encourage prominent American companies like Coca-Cola to use their influence to lobby leaders and officials to accelerate the reforms needed to facilitate private sector growth," Ambassador Michael J. Murphey said during his address.
After the presentation of the results of the Study, which explains and documents Coca-Cola's contribution to the economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the impact of its long-term business in Bosnia and Herzegovina on the progress of society as a whole, a panel discussion was held on the topic: "Excellence in business and the role of companies in creating wider value". in which, in addition to Ruža Tomić Fontana, general manager of Coca-Cola HBC, Jovan Marjanović, director of the Sarajevo Film Festival, Amina Ćuprija, manager of Konzum's packaged food procurement service, Nermina Sefer, director of Hotel Hills and Zdenko Baković, entrepreneur - owner of the company Kamensko, participated. The panel discussion participants discussed what Coca-Cola's business brings to the economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and how companies, through excellence in their own business processes and by creating opportunities to raise the bar of excellence in their environment, can create new value, lead changes and use their strong market and leading industrial positions to support the economy and society.
Coca-Cola in Bosnia and Herzegovina created the first study, which related to business in 2014, and presented it to the public in 2015, thus establishing and strengthening the standards of transparency in business and reporting to the public about the impact of large companies on the economy and society. Then, in 2017, it created the first domestic Sustainability Report based on the analysis of operations and impact in 2016. It continued the tradition by preparing the Study on the socioeconomic impact of Coca-Cola in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2017, the new Sustainability Report for 2018 and the third study on the socioeconomic impact in 2019. This is the fourth study on the socioeconomic impact of Coca-Cola in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The sustainable business studies and reports prepared so far can be found at this link: https://bit.ly/3AV5eVf where you can also download the Study on the socio-economic impact of Coca-Cola in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2021.
