Forbes: Marlenka Triumphs. Avetisjan is the EY Entrepreneur of the Year in the MS Region

Avetisjan won over the jury, which consisted mainly of previous winners of EY Entrepreneur of the Year, not only with his business results but also with his entrepreneurial story.

He came to the Czech Republic from his native Armenia with no money and no knowledge of the language. Originally an interior designer, he decided to bet on traditional Armenian sweets and in 2003 founded a company to produce them. He baked the first cakes himself in a second-hand oven and distributed them to customers.

Today, his company produces honey cakes and nuggets using a unique technology and exports them to more than fifty countries around the world, from neighbouring Germany to South Korea. Many of them are also sold in Avetisjan’s native Armenia. In 2024, the company surpassed the threshold of one billion crowns in turnover for the first time.

“Gevorg Avetisjan’s story is the epitome of true entrepreneurial spirit. It shows that to build a global company, you mainly need courage, diligence and an unwavering belief in your product. Gevorg has managed to build a company in the Moravian-Silesian Region that is an inspiration for all those who start from scratch,” says Martina Kneiflová, EY’s Country Managing Partner in the Czech Republic.

The award ceremony took place on February 4 in Villa Na Landeku in Ostrava. The competition is held under the auspices of Czech President Petr Pavel and Moravian-Silesian Region Governor Josef Bělica and in cooperation with the Moravian-Silesian Innovation Centre.

“Successful business is one of the most important drivers of the development of our society. I’m rooting for everyone who has embarked on such a path. And I am pleased to see individual successes,” emphasized Governor Bělica.

He also recalled the success of entrepreneurs from the last year of the competition. “For example the founders of Carebot, who come from our region, made a huge splash in last year’s EY Entrepreneur of the Year competition. Their tool for evaluating X-ray images with the help of AI is used by all hospitals established by the Moravian-Silesian Region.”

According to Adéla Hradilová, director of the Moravian-Silesian Innovation Centre, the region has strong entrepreneurial potential. “The Moravian-Silesian region is full of entrepreneurial stories that have the potential to inspire and teach us a great deal.”

The winners of the next regional rounds of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2025 competition will be announced in the coming weeks. The main awards ceremony in six categories will take place on 3 March 2026 in the Spanish Hall of Prague Castle.

The overall winner will then represent the Czech Republic at the world finals in Monaco, where the best entrepreneurs on the planet will compete for the title of EY World Entrepreneur of the Year 2026.

Forbes 4 February 2026; the online article in Czech can be found here.