Zurich - Enzo Smrekar, the president of the Slovenian Ski Association, has been appointed the treasurer of the International Ski Federation (FIS). He is the first Slovenian to be in charge of the financial affairs of the governing body for international skiing and snowboarding.

Smrekar, director of Croatian-owned Slovenian food company Atlantic Droga Kolinska, was appointed FIS treasurer at an inaugural meeting of the new FIS council in Zurich on Monday.

This is a very important post, the national ski association told the STA on Tuesday, adding that Smrekar will also be a FIS council member and will chair the FIS Finance Commission.

He received 113 votes out of the 117 possible for the position of a FIS council member at the Milan congress in late May. He is the second Slovenian to be appointed to a senior FIS position after the late Janez Kocijančič was a member and vice-president of the umbrella international organisation.

Born in 1966, Smrekar has an MBA degree, and finished the advanced management program at the Harvard Business School in 2019. He joined the Slovenian Ski Association as vice-president in 2010, and three years later he was unanimously elected its president. He is also a vice-president of the Slovenian Olympic Committee.

Smrekar has more than 30 years of experience in marketing and management, including at leading international companies. In 2010, he played a part in the integration of Droga Kolinska, one of the leading Slovenian food companies, into the Croatian multinational Atlantic Grupa, as a Droga Kolinska board member. Today he is vice-president of Atlantic Grupa and director of Atlantic Droga Kolinska.