An awards program in the area of corporate social responsibility (CSR) was launched for the first time in Macedonia in 2007. BEA, being one of the supporters of the newly established Coordinative Body for CSR (along with InWent, a non-profit German organization that implements a regional CSR project funded by the German Government, UNDP and the Ministry of Economy) , which acts under the Economic-Social Council, was a co-organizer of the “CSR Oscars” event, held on February 22. The event was aimed at presenting of the awards and was attended by over 100 representatives from the corporate sector, government and the NGO sector. BEA’s Director, Aleksandar Shahov, was one of the keynote speakers.

The awards recognize the CSR leaders within the business community, who have demonstrated commitment to goodwill, philanthropy and care about employees. The competition was open to companies of any size.

73 applications were submitted to the jury, most of them presenting social, ethical and environmental projects. 15 finalists were certified for good CSR practices and each of them got a CSR “Oscar” sculpture. Recipient of the winning award is TINEX, a food retail chain company from Skopje, for their program for offering employment to parentless children. (February 2008)