More than 130 associates, guests and friends gathered in the congress halls of the Hotel Neptun on the Brijuni Islands on Monday 2^nd October, and with us shared the joy of marking the 25^th anniversary of the founding of Navela. We were also joined by representatives of the economic and social community amongst whom were Gordana Deranja, the president of the Croatian Employer’s Association, Giuseppina Rajko, the deputy prefect of Istria County, Jasna Jaklin Majetić, the vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce of Istria County, professors of higher educational institutes and HRB (Croatian Register of Shipping). Of the representatives of our strategic principal Yanmar there were Shiori Nagata, the president of Yanmar Marine International, Eric Tigelaar, the manager of the department of commercial engines of Yanmar Europe, Rinze Van Kammen, the manager of after-sales of Yanmar Europe and Wil Botman, the assistant global manager of sales at Yanmar Marine International. Numerous boat builders from Croatia, Slovenia and Montenegro came to the Brijuni Islands whose vessels have Yanmar engines installed along with the equipment of various leading companies that Navela represents. Also present were representatives of ACI Club and other marinas where the service network has developed plus numerous charter companies. Fish farmers who use the latest robots for cage cleaning were also present. It is Navela who introduced this technology, which is spreading more increasingly, to them. There was an exceptional number of our service providers who over the last 25 years have grown into the best service network on the eastern coast of the Adriatic, plus representatives of manufacturers with whom we cooperate in the production of the propulsion units for the robots and of course Navela’s employees.

The meeting began with the presentation of Navela’s growth and achievements, a company which from small beginnings dealing with wholesales grew into a respectable distributor for first-class global companies, then organised a sales network and after-sales support system, transferring knowledge, the promotion of numerous new products, collaborated in their testing and the making of propulsion and control units. Throughout this period Navela has affirmed itself as an excellent and socially responsible company which has significantly contributed to nautical tourism in Croatia and has regularly carried out all of its social commitments. The presentation finished with a look to the future – with the projects Misli plavo, misli more (Think blue, think sea) with which Navela offers the possibility for young engineers to be included in the work of company on new products whilst still studying, and the Navel Business Centre which will be finished and opened in the first quarter of next year. It will round off the first 25 years of Navela's existence and its focus on excellence and its future in the best way. In the centre Navela’s team will receive modern and ideal working conditions, the most contemporary training and the transfer of technical knowledge will be made available to our collaborators and service providers, and to our customers there will be the top-quality presentation of all the products plus the supply of spare parts. The presentation ended with messages from Navela's director, with notes of thanks for the present cooperation and the trust of customers, partners and the current situation, and also the confidence of even better cooperation in the future.

At the meeting Navela’s director, Nevenka Čalić, presented Jasna Jaklin Majetić with the Acknowledgment of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce for her successful work in the name of its president, Luka Burilović. The president of Yanmar Marine International, Shiori Nagata, highlighting the great satisfaction with the results which Navela has achieved in its area of operation and expressing the belief that in the next 25 years it will achieve even greater success, awarded a gift from the Yanmar Corporation, a specially designed and painted marine engine which will adorn the premises of the new Navela Business Centre and a letter of thanks from Mr Takehito Yamaoka, the president of Yanmar Co. Japan. Finally, Shiori Nagata and Nevenka Čalić symbolically cut a ribbon in front of a large projection of the business centre and announced a new era in Navela’s work.

The social gathering continued with cocktails, a celebratory dinner and a concert by The Beatles Revival Band, which in the nicest way rounded off the happy day marking Navela’s 25^th birthday.