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The work combining glass and porcelain will also be a gift for guests at the exclusive launch of the E15 Premium magazine entitled Business Elite, which is being held at the opening of the global showjumping r Global Champions Prague Play Off races on 13 December.

Both studios announced the contest to students. The winning design takes the form of a glass jar with frosted glass decoration, designed by Rony Plesl’s student Anna Jožová. The jar is blown in Rückl glassworks. It is closed with a porcelain lid including a horse designed by student David Ramdan. The horses on this series of jars are individually decorated by Velčovský’s students in the porcelain studio.

“These kinds of projects are very important for us, one reason being that students know their originality can go to a client, and needn’t end up merely at an exhibition of semester work,” says Rony Plesl of the joint project of UMPRIM, E15 and J & T Banka. Maxim Velčovský adds that this is the first order combining glass and porcelain the studios have done.

The work has now been rewarded by being included in the collections of the Moravian Gallery. “Design geneticists have long wondered whether glass and porcelain can be combined, and whether a hybrid Maxim Velšovský and Rony Plesl can be created. J & T Bank and E15 managed to hold a contest amongst students in which the studios of both designers joined together to come up with a prestigious award design. The result is the E15 Premium Trophy, which bears the marks of both designers, and I believe that the co-operation, which is an opportunity for Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design students, will continue in future years,” says Jan Press, director of the Moravian Gallery in Brno.

Luxury original design, a pure combination of lead crystal and porcelain: this is a general summary of the form of the artefact. “The jar captures the symbiotic relationship between the horse and rider in show jumping and is designed to be a tangible recollection of the experience of the equestrian competition. The aesthetic shape is complemented by the statuette of the jumping horse, which is a modest symbol of precision – the key characteristics in this complex discipline. I was impressed that the project would not just be about the co-operation of rider and horse, but also the co-operation of two studios – the glass studio and ceramics studio,” says Anna Jožová of her design.

The ranking was produced following months of analysing economic data, studying hundreds of annual reports, AGM minutes, notarial deeds and articles in print and online media. Opinions on the wealth of billionaires were shared by leading investors, bankers, consultants, the entrepreneurs themselves and other market players, with whom editors met over a number of months. 

“The world of the wealthiest has always attracted public interest, which is why lists of billionaires are produced the world-over. E15 Premium magazine editors endeavoured to bring the most objective analysis of the assets of Czech and Slovak billionaires,” says E15 Editor-in-Chief, Tereza Zavadilová. The methods used to calculate assets are conservative. 

Billionaires are doing well in all sectors, but one business sector stands out from them all. “In the Czech Republic and Slovakia, like elsewhere in the world, companies in the technology sector are doing the best. A clear example is anti-virus company Avast’s successfully joining the London stock exchange,” says list author and leading economic journalist, Vladan Gallistl. As well as Avast founders, he says that other people who invested in technology are doing well. In contrast, business people who relied merely on the redistribution of assets during the wild 1990s are gradually falling down the list. 

This exclusive issue of the E15 Premium magazine also includes a unique double interview with founders of Avast, Pavel Baudiš and Eduard Kučera. The magazine includes many topics, such as which managers are billionaires’ favourites, why the rich like the world of horses, how billionaires’ wives enjoy themselves, and who represents the hopes of Czech business. 

There are clear differences in the wealth of even the richest of us. The clear winner of the ranking is PPF Group majority shareholder Petr Kellner, whose assets come to a sum of 281 billion crowns. Roughly every fifth billion crowns of the top one hundred Czech and Slovak billionaires is owned by Kellner. In second place is Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, who is in charge of the Agrofert conglomerate. The value of his assets is 93 billion crowns. Only people whose assets come to at least 2.9 billion crowns got into this list of top business people. The list of billionaires is also available in the paid zone of the E15Premium.cz website. 

The publication of the magazine will be marked by a social event including a launch, taking place on the occasion of the opening of the show jumping league, Global Champion Playoffs. General Partner to the Billionaires 2018 project is HAVEL & Partners law firm, while Main Partner is Patria Finance. 

The E15 daily provides its readers with mainly business news in its printed E15 daily, and at the e15.cz website. The E15 Premium brand includes paid content on the website E15Premium.cz, specialist magazines of the same name, events and conferences.

“For me, the very strong life stories of our finalists was evidence that the whole project is worthwhile and can provide strength and inspiration to other women and mums,” says magazine Editor-in-Chief Alice Rossi. 

The Mum of the Year 2018 award was handed over by Libuše Šmuclerová, CEO and Chair of the Board at Czech News Center, and Lenka Koenigsmark, Marketing Manager at Mattel for the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. 

Kateřina Ramil won the Blogger Mum category, Lucie Hladíková won the Entrepreneur Mum category and Radka Doudová won the Hero Mum category. 

The judging panel, which included well-known figures such as Tamara Klusová, Andrea Růžičková and Marika Šoposká, decided on the outright winner at the gala evening in Prague’s Soho restaurant. All nine finalists and the entire Maminka magazine editorial board enjoyed this culmination of the whole contest, including contest partners. 

“It was an evening filled with an incredibly emotive and positive energy, and I firmly hope next year will be at least as successful as this year. Thanks to all mums who took part in the contest and revealed a little piece of themselves, inspiring all other mums,” says Maminka Editor-in-Chief, Alice Rossi. 

The whole evening was moderated by Vojtěch Bernatský with songs from Ondřej Ruml. Next year’s Mum of the Year contest will be announced by Maminka lifestyle magazine in March 2019.