Darko Aračić: In partnership with the former Czech Prime Minister to reach three billion kuna in revenue

At the beginning of March, the Požega company Agronom will open its second Agrocenter this year, in Našice. The first was opened on February 1 in Đakovo, and a month after Našice, in April, the opening of the one in Požega is expected, which will also serve as the headquarters of the company in which, since November last year, the Czech Agrofert, owned by former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, holds a 70 percent stake. The remaining 30 percent is held by the former majority owner and founder of Agronom, Darko Aračić, who, in fact, did not even have the ambition to become a businessman until the late 1990s. This is his story.

Bands to Live For

He was born in 1967 in Požega, which has been tied to his entire private and business life so far, except for his studies in agronomy in Zagreb. He confidently claims that he will remain in Požega, not only because of the company but also when he retires one day. Until then (jokingly, but perhaps also seriously, but with laughter), he says that life is just ahead of him, adding that he has entered the most fruitful period of his business life. He says he was a lively child, the youngest in the family (he has two older sisters), livelier than others, but he claims he was not problematic.

– I don’t know if I showed leadership qualities even then, but I probably carry part of those leadership abilities from childhood. We grew up in socialism, where everyone was more or less equal, and with the passage of years, I remember childhood with a more romantic view. We were materially much poorer, but the social life, just that growing up and youth of the 70s and 80s, was very vibrant. When I think of the music and cultural events of that time… – Aračić recounts.

Film and cinema had a significant influence on his generation as a place for social gatherings, and in music, the new wave and punk, significantly shaped it. Films, Azra, Ekatarina Velika, The Clash, Sex Pistols, Pink Floyd… these were the bands for whose concerts, or at least records if the concerts were unattainable, people lived.

– Beautiful years. I always say that we are trapped in those years, and probably, at least in my opinion, nothing better has happened on the global and domestic music scene after that period – he will say.

He often went to concerts and believes that it was precisely that music, which was socially engaged, that significantly shaped his generation. In his case, we got the impression that rock and punk fell on fertile ground considering that he was never really, as he will say during the conversation, part of the mainstream, or did not hesitate to oppose authorities.

Because of this, he may not have achieved a handball and basketball career even in small Požega clubs, although he started training those sports, but certainly, that was not the only reason. In fact, he played more in the school team and engaged in sports recreationally; he loved nature and hiking. He used to travel at least once a year with friends to distant destinations by motorcycle. However, he emphasizes that it was not about speed and wildness on the roads; he would go with friends to the mountains for a few days in Romania, Albania, Austria, Slovenia, Bosnia, Montenegro… After he developed his business and started a family, he does it less often, but he says he finds time for it.

Due to his love for nature and hiking, he enrolled in the Faculty of Agriculture in Zagreb thinking that as a graduated engineer, he would work in plant cultivation, although his initial desire was history. But even then, he was thinking that he needed to secure a living through education, and being a history professor did not seem rational to him. Who knows, perhaps his rational decision was also influenced by his father’s death when he was eighteen. The family suffered a heavy blow, which, besides grief, practically meant that he would have to fend for himself. Namely, it was a typical working-class family of the 1980s that struggled against the then galloping inflation with modest salaries. For a young man just starting college, the loss of a father was even harder.

But he graduated in Agronomy and returned to Požega in the 1990s. He got his first job at the local Agricultural School as a professor. He did that for three months. He was a substitute, teaching specialized subjects. It’s not that he didn’t like it, he says, but he is too dynamic a person to remain a high school teacher, which he realized after a few months. Additionally, it coincided that he then received a job offer from the Agricultural Cooperative Prvča from Nova Gradiška, a private company engaged in trade. He accepted the offer. Working in the Cooperative would not only be good experience for him but also, thanks to numerous contacts, very useful for his future private business.

However, Aračić did not know that at the time.

Read more in the new issue of the digital and printed edition of Lider.

{embed_digitalno_izdanje}{/embed_digitalno_izdanje}