Discover Who the Most Powerful Women in Croatian Business Are in 2025

We are only ten days away from the most important annual gathering of women in Croatian business. As every year, this year at the 15th anniversary Leader’s Conference Women in Business, which will take place on December 4 at the Mozaik Event Center in Zagreb, the names of the ten most powerful women in Croatian business for 2025 will be announced.

The deserving recognitions will be awarded to women selected by the editorial team of the business weekly Lider based on the criterion of managerial power, i.e., the total revenues of the companies they lead, as well as some ‘softer’ criteria such as their influence in the companies they head, as well as on the overall economy and society.

This ceremonial award, which will be followed by a discussion with the ten most powerful, will be the finale of the conference where over 500 participants will listen to inspiring one-on-one conversations, panels with prominent experts from the world of business, science, and public life, exchange valuable knowledge and experiences, and utilize the time for the always necessary networking.

The conference will also present Lider’s special edition in which, in addition to current topics from the world of women’s business, the traditional ranking list of 300 most powerful businesswomen in the domestic market will be published.

And while we count down the days to the new international meeting with leading experts, managers, entrepreneurs, and leaders, where you can secure your place by registering via the link (the number of places is limited, so hurry!), let us recall who made it to the top ten most powerful women in Croatian business last year.

1. Zsuzsanna Ortutay, CEO of INA

Zsuzsanna Ortutay first joined INA in 2003 as an advisor to the treasury of the Chief Financial Officer and spent almost three years in that role. As a finance professional in the MOL Group, of which she has been a part for 27 years, she was re-engaged at INA a few years later, this time on a project to optimize processes in the company aimed at ensuring and strengthening financial stability.

However, her journey to becoming the most powerful woman in Croatian business began in 2021 when she became a member of INA’s Supervisory Board, which allowed her to familiarize herself with the entire company’s operations and which was, among other things, her reference for taking over the position of CEO of the largest Croatian company in 2023.

2. Nataša Rapaić, CEO of Hrvatski Telekom

Passion and belief in doing something valuable and purposeful is the driving fuel – this is the life maxim of Nataša Rapaić, CEO of Hrvatski Telekom. She joined HT in 2003 as the Executive Director of the Corporate Communications Division, where she was responsible for introducing the T-Com brand to Croatia. After that, she was the Chief Marketing Officer, a member of the Executive Board of T-Com, and the Operational Director of the Marketing Sector for private customers, and since 2013, she has been a member of the Management Board and the Chief Operating Officer for private customers.

In July last year, she took on the role of CEO of HT and is particularly proud to be the first person in that position who came from within the company.

3. Martina Dalić, CEO of Podravka

Last year, Martina Dalić ceremoniously opened the new Podravka logistics and distribution center in Koprivnica, an investment worth over 48 million euros, which concluded the largest investment cycle in the company’s history, started in 2021, just a few months after Dalić was appointed CEO.

Thus, the investment cycle, which was carried out in accordance with the Business Strategy until 2025, was completed, marking the largest modernization leap in Podravka’s history, with a total value that should ultimately reach around 250 million euros.

4. Lada Tedeschi Fiorio, Member of the Management Board of Atlantic Group

The business and career path of Lada Tedeschi Fiorio to the Vice President of Atlantic Group for Corporate Strategy and Growth has mostly developed in the company where she is a co-owner and with which she is also family connected. Although she did not encounter obstacles on that path because she is a woman, she could not avoid some challenges.

In her opinion, success and progress in a company’s business can only be achieved by respecting the principles of openness and rewarding competencies and results.

5. Anita Letica, CEO of Philip Morris Zagreb

They say that if you believe you can or if you believe you cannot, you are always right. Anita Letica, CEO of Philip Morris Zagreb, believes that this is indeed the case. She has been at the helm of Philip Morris for the Croatian market for almost eleven years and for almost eight for the Slovenian market – and throughout this time, she has been on Lider’s ranking list of the ten most powerful women in Croatian business. Last year, she ranked in the middle of the list – fifth place.

In the last decade, she says, she has gone through good times, but also less good periods, but attitude and will, she believes, are the most important for overcoming challenges.

6. Tatjana Antolić Jasnić, Member of the Management Board of Zagrebačka banka

Tatjana Antolić Jasnić began her career, which mostly relates to risk management in banking, 24 years ago at Zagrebačka banka, which is part of UniCredit. After various leadership positions, she is now, along with Jasna Mandac and Aleksandra Rašić, one of the three members of the Management Board of Zaba, which is why she ranked sixth on Lider’s list of the most powerful women in Croatian business.

Although it may initially seem like a male-dominated industry, Antolić Jasnić believes that there is indeed room for women in banking and sees ‘no obstacles for women to be equal participants in the industry in Croatia and to realize their professional qualities in the most demanding managerial positions’.

7. Andrea Pavlović, Member of the Management Board of PBZ

For more than twenty years, Andrea Pavlović has been part of Privredna banka Zagreb in various leadership positions, and she was appointed to the Management Board at a very young age, at 37, and was also the first woman on the Management Board of PBZ, which is part of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group. She first appeared on Lider’s ranking list of the most powerful women last year, ranking seventh.

She started her career at the Economic Institute in Zagreb as she wanted to engage in scientific work at that time, but soon realized that a more dynamic business environment suited her better, so she joined the PBZ team. Nevertheless, she concurrently engaged in scientific work and worked with students.

8. Ivana Pek Lučić, Member of the Management Board of PPD

In just nine years, Ivana Pek Lučić has risen from a junior position to a member of the Management Board of Prvo plinarsko društvo, which is why she entered Lider’s ranking list of the ten most powerful women in Croatian business for the first time last year, in eighth place. She joined PPD in 2015 as a junior associate for portfolio management, and five years later, in 2020, she took on her first managerial position.

As she explains, she has been increasing the number of team members and fully developing the portfolio management sector with three strategic areas of activity: short-term trading, logistics, and market development.

9. Gordana Kovačević, CEO of Ericssona Nikola Tesla

Gordana Kovačević has tied her entire business journey to Ericsson Nikola Tesla, where she has been at the helm for twenty years and was elected president of the company for the fifth time last year. This secured her ninth place on Lider’s list of the most powerful women in Croatian business. She says she loves her job and feels passion and motivation working in the dynamic and progressive ICT industry.

On her career path, Kovačević did not encounter insurmountable obstacles simply because she is a woman, but if there were any, she successfully overcame them with her knowledge, results, and taking responsibility.

10. Dubravka Drk-Mravlinčić and Tamara Drk-Vojnović, Members of the Management Board of Vindija

With a share capital of over 343 million euros, sisters Dubravka Drk-Mravlinčić and Tamara Drk-Vojnović established the Vindija Group last year, a company to which they transferred their ownership stakes, totaling 97.93 percent, of Varaždinska Vindija. In addition to being equal owners of Vindija, sisters Dubravka and Tamara have also been equal members of the Management Board since 2021, following the death of their father, the legendary Dragutin Drk.

Both sisters have dedicated their entire business careers to developing Vindija’s system, which today employs more than 4,200 people, and in which they held important managerial and supervisory roles even before their father’s death.

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