In 2021 prize was awarded to Boris Vujčić, Governor of the Croatian National Bank (CNB), who played a key role in Croatia’s accession to the European Union, in the reform of Croatia’s monetary policy instruments and in keeping the kuna (the Croatian currency) stable, which has helped to bring the country to the brink of adopting the euro.

Boris Vujčić holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Zagreb. He has also received diplomas in Economics from the Montpellier University (France) and was a pre-doctoral PhD Fulbright student at the Michigan State University. He joined the Croatian National Bank in 1997, and was Director of the Research Department for three years before becoming Deputy Governor in 2000, a position to which he was re-appointed in 2006. 

In July 2012, Mr Vujčić became Governor of the Croatian National Bank for a six-year term of office and was re-appointed for another six-year term of office in July 2018. Mr Vujčić has been a Deputy Chief Negotiator in Republic of Croatia’s negotiations with the European Union 2005-2012. He was also a member of the Global Development Network (GDN) Board in the same period, 2005-2012. He is a Member of the Steering Committee of the ESRB, since 2016, a Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Vienna Initiative, 2016-2020, and a Member of the General Council of the ECB, since 2013. Mr Vujčić’s fields of expertise are macro and monetary economics, international finance and labor economics.