Samir Mane

Mane was born in the southern Albanian city of Korça on 24 December 1967. He was a student of the Faculty of Geology and Mining at Tirana University when the communist system in Albania collapsed. As a young student, he migrated to Austria where mostly worked as a translator while building his personal business network. Whilst living in Austria in 1993, he spotted the opportunity to start business with electronic products and home appliances in Albania. [1] In 2008 he was included in the Financial Times top four "people to watch in business" in Albania.[2] Mane's net worth is estimated to be around 700 million euros. [3] According to Wealth-X, Samir Mane is the first Albanian billionaire. [4]

The beginnings of Mane's business activities started in 1993 in Vienna, where Mane founded Alba Trade. Having started with the trade of electronic devices, soon the Balfin Group, created by Mane managed to create the largest network of electronics stores in Albania, Neptun and then extending the network in the neighboring countries as well. Today Neptun is present in Albania, Kosovo and North Macedoania.[5] [6]

Since 2002 Balfin Group is present in development and real estate management projects. Through the company Mane TCI it has realized industrial and residential facilities of the highest standards in Albania such as Rolling Hills, Ambasador 1, 2, 3, etc, or the well known shopping centers such as TEG or QTU.

In 2005, it was inaugurated the first shopping center in Albania, Qendra Tregtare Univers (Universe Trade Center). This was a very ambitious project of Mane's for the time and revolutionized the purchasing way of the Albanian customers. a.

The year 2005 marked the establishment of the first Albanian chain of supermarkets, Euromax.

Fashion Group was established in 2005.

In 2011 Balfin Group completed another important project, Tirana East Gate. With an investment of €54 million, it was constructed the most modern and the largest shopping center in Albania with over 90'000 m2.

In October 2012 Balfin Group concluded one of the most important investments of the group abroad, Skopje City Mall.

In March 2012 he was named the honorary consul of Thailand at the opening ceremony of the new consulate.[7]

Again during 2012 Mane with Balfin Group undertook a project yet again, building a logistic park. The total investment costs are planned to be about €44 million.

In 2013 Balfin Group took a step to diversify the portfolio of activities in the mineral industry by acquiring 100% of the shares of the largest company of extraction, enrichment and processing of chrome in Albania.

In 2015, Mane started building, Green Coast, containing ten types of buildings, from villas to apartments, including a 5 star hotel. [8]

In 2016 Mane and Balfin Group turned all the Carrefour in Albania, into Spars and Interspars. This is a Dutch brand, founded on 1932 and is currently present in more than 42 countries around the world.

2018 was a successful year for Mane and Balfin Group, where they announced the acquisitions of NewCo Ferronikeli, the integrated nickel mine and smelter based in Drenas, Kosovo. Immediately after the purchase they injected sufficient funds to restart the plant and bring it back to full production, as well on agreeing to repay the existing supplier debts of the company and paying outstanding salaries. Another major transaction was the acquisition of Tirana Bank in cooperation with Komercijalna Banka from Macedonia, where Balfin Group holds around 90% of the shares.[9]

Samir Mane has been subject to the public debate from Albanian activists due to his success and strong economic influence within the country and in the region. What remains true and official is the fact that Samir Mane and his group, BALFIN Group, has never participated in so far in public tenders nor benefiting from public budget. This is also reflected onto the group development trend and its portfolio diversification strategy.[10] [11]

In 2019, "High Honor Decorate for Services to the Republic of Austria", the highest Austrian state awards awarded by the Austrian president and endorsed by the Austrian Ambassador in Albania.

In 2016, "For Special Civil Merits" awarded from the Republic of Albania President.

In June 2016, Member of the Jury appointed from CEEQA (Central and Eastern European Real Estate Quality Awards).

Since 2012, Honorary Consul of the Kingdom of Thailand.