Alumni, their spouses and at least one younger family member came together on April 7 at the luxurious Kempinski Hotel in Vilnius for the 2016 BMI Alumni Gala Dinner. This latest edition of the traditional annual event celebrated the strong bonds that members of the alumni community share.

“A family is about people who are always there for you, no matter what, to support and encourage and help – and that’s what we find and promote as BMI Alumni, in professional and business life and not only there. We are a kind of family,” BMI Alumni President Vaiva Tylienė explained. Thanks to the hard work and enthusiasm of the BMI Alumni Council, alumni activities are on the rise, she said, with four different events in April alone.

The Gala was an evening of fine dining, pleasant interaction and, of course, special awards.

First to be recognized was Artūras Abromavičius of BMI EMBA Class IV, who was made a “Members of Honour” of the BMI Alumni Association to recognize his long active and fruitful involvement, including several years as chairman of the BMI Alumni Council.

This year’s CAREER OF THE YEAR award went to Skirmantas Mačiukas, who is now Managing Director at Circle K Lietuva (formerly named Statoil). The other finalist was Ramūnas Mačius, who recently became Vice President Corporate Affairs Central Europe at Japan Tobacco International (JTI).

The award for ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR was presented to Aurimas Zimnickas, owner and head of business development at UAB Eladus, an innovative distributor of food and beverages. The other finalist was Giedrius Martusevičius, CEO and partner at ProBioSan Laboratory.

After the awards, Gala participants also enjoyed a live performance by talented young musicians from the Balys Dvarionas Music School and Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre.

Visit the Gala photo-gallery for more impressions from the event:

https://goo.gl/photos/qRAwM2YJzuCbUWot5

The BMI Alumni Association and Gala Dinner organizing committee are especially grateful to the sponsor of the event: