In the latest edition of the podcast Business Club, the guest of the President of the Economic Chamber of North Macedonia, Branko Azeski, is Borijan Borozanov, MBA, Director for European Operations in the Clean Air sector at Johnson Matthey—a leading global provider of clean-air technologies—and General Manager of Johnson Matthey DOOEL Skopje. In the conversation, they discussed his professional career as well as the development of Johnson Matthey in Skopje.

Borozanov has more than 20 years of professional experience in international management and leadership positions in Europe, the USA, and Macedonia, including significant experience in the automotive industry. He graduated from the Faculty of Architecture at the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, and as a Fulbright Scholar earned a Master of Business Administration at the prestigious Thunderbird School of Global Management in Phoenix, Arizona, USA.

Before returning to Macedonia, he held several responsible positions in the automotive industry in Europe, including strategic production footprint planner as part of the Delphi Rotational Leadership Development Program.

Between 2007 and 2012, as Head of the Investor Services Department at Invest Macedonia, Borozanov contributed to the implementation of 12 investment projects with a total value of more than 100 million US dollars, as well as the opening of 2,500 new jobs in the automotive supply chain in North Macedonia.

He joined Johnson Matthey from Aptiv Services Macedonia, where since 2016 he served as General Manager, and was also part of the team involved in establishing the new Delphi Electronics Systems plant in the Skopje TIDZ.

In the podcast, Borozanov spoke about Johnson Matthey DOOEL Skopje, a company manufacturing catalytic converters and filters for internal combustion engine vehicles, which forms part of the global Johnson Matthey system headquartered in London. It is a company with a 208-year tradition, specializing in catalyst production for the automotive, marine, and chemical industries.

He emphasized that Johnson Matthey DOOEL Skopje is the largest, most productive, and most efficient company within the entire Johnson Matthey global system, and that it operates with 100% Macedonian management and Macedonian engineers. Although often perceived as a foreign company, Borozanov stated that it is essentially a Macedonian company with foreign capital. In that context, he highlighted: “About 25% of the vehicles driven in Europe have catalytic converters manufactured in Macedonia, and the total number of catalytic converters produced in Macedonia from the opening of the plant in 2009 to today amounts to 190 million.”

Borozanov also highlighted the company’s approach to human resources, emphasizing that Johnson Matthey employs young engineers without prior work experience and develops them according to its internal needs. According to him, companies should not expect the state alone to provide fully prepared labor, but should actively engage in the creation and development of human potential.

He noted that although the company generates a turnover of around two billion, the focus is not solely on growth, but primarily on profitability and the satisfaction of customers and employees. Johnson Matthey is open to cooperation with the Government, particularly in the field of education and the transfer of good business practices.

As a member of the Foreign Investors Council within the Economic Chamber, Johnson Matthey is actively involved in initiatives aimed at improving exports, expanding regional cooperation, and creating an education system aligned with business needs, as well as promoting a policy of zero tolerance for corruption, establishing merit-based systems, and strengthening accountability.

In the podcast, Borozanov also shared some of his personal interests, highlighting his love for sports, which for him represents an important factor in strengthening team spirit and building strategies for success—both in business and in life.