By Niki Bakouli / bakouli@eurohoops.net
Cedevita find its way to Liga ABA’s Final Four and though they didn’t lift the trophy they got all Europe’s applause, for what they succeeded. And cause of their great performances, so far, we felt it was about time to… investigate all about the new power in Croatia. With… inside information, from Kosarka.org’s Igor Petrinovic, here what you need to know about Cedevita –cause you will need all the infos in near future.
Cedevita is not owned by anyone, they are -just like Cibona- “association of citizens” (a translation from Croatian term “udruga gradjana”). They do have a main sponsor and it’s Atlantic Group, a European leader in production and distribution of food products, including sports nutrition products and dietary supplements, with 1748 employees and net income for 2010 around 14.150.000 euros -according to Zagreb Stock Exchange. Cedevita is a Croatian company, well known for producing a wide range of teas, instant drinks and dietetic products (from 1929) and from 2001 is a part of the Atlantic Group. Its instant drink is by far the most popular in the entire region of ex-Yugoslavia.
The Senior Vice President of Atlantic Group, Mr. Mladen Veder (first from the left in the photo) is Cedevita’s president and the one who is running the club, with all the money coming from the company –and no investment can be done without the approval of Emil Tedeschi, cause he is majority stock holder, at Atlantic Group and one of the richest men in Croatia. He is also one of the best and most polished businessmen in the entire region. So, Veber runs the club, but when it comes to the club’s budget, Tedeschi needs to authorize it. And both of them are real enthusiastic with the team. One time, Tedeschi didn’t hesitate to go to Cedevita’s locker room, at halftime, after an embarrassing first half, to… see what’s going on. That was on the contrary to Tedeschi’s status and actions.
Both Tedeschi and Veber watch all the games of the club, regardless where they are in the world, for business -or pleasure. Always they find time to watch the games via online streaming. If there is a more important thing for them, it’s their veteran’s team. You see, they love playing basketball and they have put together Atlantic Group veterans’ team, with ex-professionals. Of course, they have their places at the roster.
So, basically, they are couple of really successful businessmen, who are crazy about basketball. They invest wisely (and they wont stop, till they see Cedevita at the highest level) and the funny thing is when they travel to away games, they rarely sit at the VIP area. Sometimes, they are right next to the floor and there are times they prefer to be together with the fans –like last year’s Eurocup Final Four in Treviso, as you can see in the photo.