Peter Pančík, 25, fresh out of Bratislava's Economic University, has been working sine June 1 as the director of the newly-opened Bratislava office of the French company AGS International Movers.
In spite of his age, Pančík has been able to amass an impressive amount of international experience. In 1991 he became a member of the international business students' organization AIESEC, where he went on to become a project coordinator and an internal auditor for AIESEC Slovakia.
In 1994, he worked in foreign trade in Croatia, where he exported and imported in the machine-building industry. A year later, he joined the travel agency Tiptour and remained there for a year as a deputy sales manager.
Pančík spent 1996 in India, where he worked at the La Paz Gardens Hotel, writing a strategic business and marketing plan for the hotel. Still in India, he worked for six months in the export department of Garware-Wall Ropes Ltd., one of the world's largest synthetic cord producers. Due to his international experience, he speaks English, German, and has a basic knowledge of French and Croatian.
After his return to Slovakia earlier this year, Pančík was hired by AGS International Movers. As for the near future, Pančík wants to help AGS become the number one moving specialists in Slovakia. As it is evident from his tireless globetrotting, Pančík, who is single, likes to travel, enjoy the outdoors, and to be around his friends.
Peugeot promotes new manager to drive marketing
Ivana Orviská, 35, the new marketing manager for the Slovak representative of the French car company Peugeot, has risen to her position through her experience with the trade fair organizer Incheba.
Orviská graduated from Bratislava's Economic University, the department of inner market, in 1984. After many stops, in 1991 she landed an entry-level business position with Incheba. That year, she went to France, where she polished her French and studied the development of the market economy and its application to various countries.
In 1995 she climbed higher up the Incheba ladder, to the position of trade policy director, and managed several exhibitions until she started working for Peugeot. In her new job, Orviská has set out to prove to her international colleagues that "even in our country there are many many skilled and successful people."
Orviská, who speaks English and Russian in addition to Slovak and French, said that for a woman to be successful in Slovakia, she has to be twice as good as a man in the same position. She said this is especially true in the male-dominated automotive industry.
Orviská is married and has a seven-year-old daughter, with whom she loves spending her free time. Orviská said she especially enjoys going to zoos and playing card games with her family.
Austrian Airlines veteran to direct Bratislava office
Steering Austrian Airlines' Bratislava office is Gunter Mytteis, 56, who started as director on June 1. Mytteis studied economics at the University of Vienna, but he left there before graduating. In 1961, he joined Austrian Airlines and has been with the company ever since. His loyalty to the airline has paid off, as Mytteis's resume includes stints in Moscow, Bucharest, Berlin, Cyprus and Milan.
Though Mytteis's first visit to Slovakia was just this past May, he's already buckled down on learning the competition and Austrian Airline's place in the market, pointing out that the Austrian national air carrier was the first Western airline to open an office in the independent Slovak Republic.
He hasn't forgotten his training either, saying that as director, he will make sure that Austrian Airlines "always delivers excellent service and maintains good relations with travel agencies and officials as well." Mytteis is married and has two sons. In his free time, he said he loves to play golf, especially to fire away at the driving range. For this reason, if nothing else, he is likely to continue to spend much of his free time in Austria.
