Minister of Health

Zofija Mazej Kukovič

Zofija Mazej Kukovič was born on 14 May 1955 in Črna na Koroškem. In 1980 she graduated in informatics from the Faculty of Organizational Sciences of the University of Maribor, and in 1989 she obtained a diploma in electrical engineering and electronics. In 1980 she passed her professional examinations in accordance with the provisions of the Construction Act. In 1996 she completed an international MBA course at Brdo pri Kranju. In 2002 she attended courses on crisis management at the University of Texas.

In 1974 she was employed as a design engineer at the Development Sector of the Velenje Coalmine, while from 1977 to 1989 she worked for the ESO company as a designer of control systems. When the company faced a crisis, she also partly took over sales and project management. In 1992 the company divided, with Kukovič taking over the management of ESO Montaža, which was facing bankruptcy. With her know-how she succeeded in transforming ESO Montaža, a company dogged by liquidity and personnel problems, into a new one called Esotech d.d., which specialises in high technologies.

In recent years, she has devoted much of her time to civil associations and has given lectures at conferences in Slovenia and abroad on environment protection and its significance for health, business excellence, innovation and the transfer of knowledge from research institutions into practical applications. She has received many awards for her work, including an award by the Jožef Stefan Institute for her achievements in transferring knowledge from research institutions into practical applications. In 2002 she was chosen as Person of the Year by the Delo daily, while in 2007 she received an award for the development of project management from the Slovenian Project Management Association. She is a member of many expert associations, Director of the Economic Interest Association-Slovenian Environmental Cluster, a member of the Executive Board of the Managers' Association of Slovenia, a member of the Executive Board of the Europa Donna breast cancer organisation, and of the Board of the Savinjsko-Šaleška Chamber of Commerce and Industry.