Writing about a person like Todor Sheljaskow is not that easy, because he appears to be the perfect combination of a highly educated professional and an athlete with clear goals and expectations for his sports future.

Talking about Eltrak Bulgaria, the construction and mining equipment company he heads, he says that it keeps daily connections to the main office in Athens, Greece, as well as to machines manufacturer Caterpillar.

But Sheljaskow did not study either in Greece or in Bulgaria, where he is currently located. He studied mechatronics in Germany at Technische Universitat Darmstadt until 1994, a specialty combining electronics and machine building. His first field of study was medical technology and robotics. After graduating, a professor from Johannes Kepler Universitat Linz invited him to become his partner in Austria and to do a PhD in medical technology there. According to Sheljaskow, that is where he received some of the best training in working with and managing many people, through being in charge of students at the university.

In 1999 he started working for Siemens in Seattle, Washington, US, as senior engineer, later being appointed staff engineer. By the end of his term with the company, now as project manager, he had managed large international teams in Asia, Germany and various American states. Sheljaskow also spent months in South Korea and Japan.

“I was six years in total in the United States,” he tells The Sofia Echo. “In principle, during one’s career, a person constantly comes to know himself, as well as improving and developing,” he says. Sheljaskow does not think that it is unusual for a person’s career to take a sharp turn at a given moment, both geographically and in area of specialisation and responsibilities.

It was at such a moment that Sheljaskow decided that he needed another qualification in the business administration field so that he could get executive positions. He obtained an MBA from Seattle University. At that time, he also met his future wife, another Bulgarian at a US university. Trying to be near Bulgaria, although thousands of kilometres away, for several years Sheljaskow and his future spouse participated actively in a Bulgarian folklore ensemble in Seattle.

Fair management
After receiving his second degree, Sheljaskow worked as business manager at General Electric in the US. Though it was going well, as soon as he found out that Eltrak Bulgaria had a vacancy for an executive position in his homeland, Sheljaskow applied and moved back.

“I felt very good wherever I lived abroad because I am very adaptable,” he says. “Simply, I am a Bulgarian and prefer to work in Bulgaria. I have always seen foreign countries as something temporary, where one can gain experience and see how the rest of the world works. But it is better to work in one’s homeland where one’s parents are,” he says.

The most important lesson that Sheljaskow learnt abroad is that in business, the most important thing is the people. “I have seen companies created by lots and lots of money and incredible techniques and infrastructure, cars and so on, but if the employees do not feel good, if they do not feel free, if they are not satisfied by what they are doing, sooner or later the company will find itself faced with big difficulties. Everything starts and ends with the management of people, because at the end of the day, people will look at the infrastructure and technologies and will attempt to make something out of it. They can either make miracles or ruin everything. Many times I have noticed companies that put too much effort into the legal point of view, into technical and business analyses […] and at the end they appoint a bad manager. This person spoils the whole firm, as s/he does not draw the best out of the people.”

According to Sheljaskow, Bulgarian companies are gradually passing through the same stage of rethinking their attitude towards their employees and to the long-term keeping of good personnel, the education and freedom they give to their people.

“I am adherent to the idea of, instead of controlling an employee all the time, giving him a clear goal and clear boundaries, and in this field for him to be able to take initiative and develop his responsibilities in the way he assesses to be good,” Sheljaskow says.

He also considers the different psychological make-ups of his employees by forming a working team – so thinking about the different strengths and weaknesses of every single individual is essential. He describes a successful team as “the proper mix of experience, enthusiasm, energy, age and other qualities”.

Through the years, Sheljaskow has learnt the most from managers he has worked with, his bosses and his university professor. He describes his boss at General Electric as “an incredible leader who has been an example in many things”.

Direction, not confusion
But the construction and mine mechanisation sector in which Eltrak Bulgaria operates is, according to Sheljaskow, developing unpredictably and is not yet mature.

Per Sheljaskow, companies in general are not yet able to make long-term plans, or even for the coming two to three years, because such deadlines are too soon and competition is very strong. What is needed more immediately are machines to execute client projects. In addition, as concerns most contracts with clients, initial investments in the short-term are much more important than the long-term investment plans. Therefore, things are unpredictable, Sheljaskow says.

But according to him, this will be changed with the coming few years, when companies will start consolidating and expanding, and there will be much more long-term planning in the construction industry.

Under the pressure of European partners positive changes – such as planning for the long term – will gradually take place, he says. “The boom in the Bulgarian economy started in the beginning of the 2000 and it is only since then that we can speak about serious figures – which is a short period. So, from now on, though we should be in line to develop a lot, I am absolutely sure that in the process, we will go through some corrections,” Sheljaskow says.

According to him, the weak side of the Bulgarian economy is that the market is very small. And, there is a shortage of any kind of personnel.

“We are simply a very small country with a very narrow labour potential,” he says. “Many of the qualified potential employees are either abroad or are looking for an option to emigrate. This will be a problem for Bulgaria in the coming years; yet, it could also serve to filter out the bad companies from the good. Those that will succeed are those that are indeed capable of retaining their experienced staff, those who have gained experience in the company. It is typical for emerging economies like ours, where the economy is developing rapidly and firms are looking for people, to start stealing the labour force by nothing more than bidding money for it.

“The question is not only about money and can never be,” Sheljaskow says, continuing to expound. “It is all about climate, altitude and additional bonuses, such as mobile phones, company vehicles, etc, and above all, the way one feels at the company – whether he feels free, can show his best qualities and is in the right position is as important as the pure amount of money that he would receive.”

Freedom to improve
Putting words into action, Sheljaskow ceaselessly talks to his employees about all that. “My regular question to [them] is ‘How do you feel?’,” he says.

He maintains that the local labour market has its strong sides as well. One of them is that Bulgarians are quality people: “We, the Bulgarians, have, in general, high intellectual potential and, with the correct education, [we] can achieve miracles.”

Sheljaskow is positive that the quality of education currently provided to Bulgarian students can reach the high levels that were evident in the 1980s, but “the priorities of the current Government are very confused”, he says.

He opines that the university education that is supposed to guarantee the future prosperity in the country is in a very bad condition. Education has no strong lobbying force in the government because it is a long-term project, and the people in higher fields are concerned mainly with the issues that currently interest voters, such as hotels, carting tracks and others. “A politician with a vision needs to impose even unpopular measures to support education, otherwise in the long term, Bulgaria will be in a big crisis,” Sheljaskow says.

This is probably why Eltrak Bulgaria is planning to present itself at Sofia Technical University this summer and give students opportunities for internships.

Come October, Eltrak Bulgaria is moving to a new building, which will allow the students to see all the machines and equipment in person, Sheljaskow says with pleasure.

The Caterpillar machines are equipped with ACERT engines, which meet the most stringent emissions reduction standards while maintaining engine performance. In addition, Caterpillar machines are designed to meet the most advanced norms for decreasing noise, he says. The new building that is being constructed is equipped with up-to-date insulation and energy-saving technologies. “We are also considering implementing some technologies in our car park, and moving from petrol to other fuels, such as natural gas,” Sheljaskow says.

Body fitness = mental wellbeing
Besides being a responsible and level-headed manager, he has another big dream. Though Sheljaskow does not call himself an athlete, he finds enough time to train for and participate in triathlons, a competition that combines swimming, cycling and running. With a preference for long distances, he is currently training for the Ironman Triathlon (3.8km swimming, 180km cycling, 42km running). While it might seem impossible, all three disciplines are completed in one day, and the stopwatch never stops ticking. Currently, Sheljaskow is trying to qualify for the world championships that take place in Hawaii each autumn.

Annually, he participates in Ironman competitions around the world, where, each year, he has been improving his time. On July 13 2008, he participated in the one in Switzerland; he planned to improve his time from 12 to near 11 hours. He reached 11:34 in extremely bad weather conditions – pouring rain and 15°C temperatures.

To attain this goal in qualifying for Hawaii, Sheljaskow trains regularly. Swimming in Sofia’s Spartak swimming pool, cycling at the stadium or on the road, he always finds time to keep in shape. Maybe this is why an icon of Saint George the Victorious hangs above the entrance to his office. So far, he has won both third and second places in different international competitions. One day, he also hopes to establish a triathlon federation in Bulgaria, and to start organising international competitions here, too.

The manager: Todor Sheljaskow
The job: Chief executive officer
The company: Eltrak Bulgaria
In brief: Eltrak Bulgaria is the authorised dealer for Catterpillar equipment in the country, as well as the exclusive distributor for Perkins engines and Terex O & K mining shovels. The company is part of the Eltrak Group, whose headquarters are based in Athens, Greece. The company is constantly increasing its stock availability of machines, spare parts and supplies in Sofia, as well as expanding to most of Bulgaria’s larger cities. Eltrak Bulgaria is currently building its new headquarters in Sofia on a private property of 17 000 sq m on Evropa Boulevard. The facility will include a showroom, parts warehouse and counter, offices, training room, service area with service bays and an outdoor area for demonstration of Caterpillar machines.