The current chairman of the board of A1 Croatia, Jiri Dvorjacansky, will leave his post in June, and he will be replaced by Dejan Turk, who is currently at the helm of A1 Slovenia and A1 Serbia, Forbes Croatia reported on Wednesday.

Jiri Dvorjacansky served as the head of A1 Croatia for the past 10 years. Under his leadership, Vipnet was rebranded into A1 Croatia, the company acquired Metronet and built a gigabit fixed network. At the same time, the company clashed with the Croatian Telecommunications union which accused A1 Croatia of obstructing collective agreements and inappropriately firing a person with disabilities. The union announced lawsuits.

His mandate as the chairman will also be remembered by the company’s decision to remove N1 TV from A1’s TV packages, despite the fact that N1 is the most-watched cable TV channel in the country.

Dejan Turk was born in Maribor, Slovenia, in 1967. He got interested in business very early – he revealed to Serbian media that, when he was just a boy, his father took him with him to many business meetings. He studied marketing and finance in Vienna, after which he became a manager of one McDonald’s restaurant in Slovenia. He rose through the ranks quickly and soon became the head of McDonald’s Croatia and Slovenia.

After a short stint in Slovenia’s Metropolis Media, which he prepared for the sale and owners’ exit, in 2004 he moved into the telecommunications industry by joining Si.mobil, which was later rebranded into A1 Slovenia. Over 20 years he served in many managerial functions, leading marketing and sales, becoming a member, and then finally the chairman of the board of A1 Slovenia from 2007 to 2014. That year he took over as the chairman of the board and marketing director of the newly-formed cluster A1 Telecom Austria Group Serbia and Slovenia.

Throughout his career, he was named Manager of the Year both in Slovenia and in Serbia. He served as the president of UNICEF Slovenia as well as the president of Slovenia’s Association of Managers and the member of Serbia’s Association of Managers (SEM). That same association awarded him in 2018 as the Manager of the Year, which is only one of many managerial and other awards he received in Slovenia and Serbia. He also served as the independent member of the NLB bank Belgrade’s management board.

Just like the former Vipnet’s (today A1 Croatia) chairman of the board Boris Nemsic, Turk’s words show that he understands the importance of recognizing and solving the real problems of the users. For example, over 20 years ago Nemsic noted that the user who calls the customer line should never have to wait for someone to answer the call. In spite of that, soon after he left, customers waiting for the operators to answer the call has become a common practice which lasts to this day. In his public statements, Turk shows he understands that business reports cannot replace direct contact with customers, which is why he ocassionally communicates with them in person or follows their comments in the customer centre.

In his free time, he enjoys running, skiing, diving, surfing and SUP paddle boards.

As well as A1 Croatia, Turk will continue to helm A1 Slovenia from Zagreb, while his position in A1 Serbia will be taken over by Judit Gerloczy Albers, who is currently serving as the head of international business in A1 Telecom Austria. A1 Macedonia, which was up until now helmed by Dvorjacansky, should get its own chairman of the board.