Boscarols donate EUR 25m to local community after selling company

Ajdovščina, 18 March - Following the announcement that the Slovenian maker of ultralight aircraft Pipistrel will be acquired by the US company Textron, CEO Ivo Boscarol decided to donate a portion of the proceeds to the Ajdovščina municipality where Pipistrel is based. Each employee will receive EUR 3 for every day they have worked for the company.

Ajdovščina
Pipistrel founder Ivo Boscarol (right) and Ajdovščina Major Tadej Beočanin.
Photo: Jure Makovec/STA

The EUR 25 million donation to the municipality, a joint decision by Boscarol, Pipistrel's founder and majority owner, and his daughter Taja Boscarol, the company's minority owner, will be used to build a new community health centre and aviation museum, and to create new green spaces.

"I did this for my employees, for the environment where I live, and for Slovenia as a whole, because yesterday we laid the foundation of the Slovenian aviation industry, which will now be able to compete with all the major foreign players," said Ivo Boscarol on Friday, adding he was proud that this was one of the most expensive business deals in the history of Slovenia.

The deal is worth some EUR 218 million, and after it is finalised, expectedly in the second quarter of 2022, Boscarol will remain a minority owner.

Of the total donation to the municipality, EUR 20 million will go for the new health centre that will be situated next to the city's airstrip. Ajdovščina will also get a larger pharmacy, and all emergency facilities, from the emergency medical care to the fire station, will be brought together in one place.

Moreover, the city will receive an emergency helicopter that will also be used for firefighting and rescue. A pool will be built next to the new rescue centre for scooping up water for firefighting.

The new aviation museum will give the local aviation heritage the space it deserves, Ajdovščina Mayor Tadej Beočanin told the joint press conference. The museum will aim to boost local tourism as well.

EUR 1 million is meanwhile earmarked for the greening and landscaping in the municipality, including creating new green spaces in areas where trees had to make way for new buildings.

The municipality will immediately start preparing the project documentation, and construction could start at the end of 2023 or in 2024.

"Ajdovščina was on Tuesday named the most development-oriented municipality in Slovenia. This donation will mean it will develop twice as fast in the next four years," said the mayor, thanking Taja and Ivo Boscarol for the donation, whose value is equal to the amount of the budget available for investments in the municipality over the next four years.

Despite the sale of Pipistrel, Ajdovščina will keep the building housing the company's headquarters, a monument of national importance by Slovenian-Italian architect Boris Podrecca, as it was not part of the sale. This was a promise Ivo Boscarol made to the mayor several years ago.

Boscarol hopes that his gesture will inspire other Slovenian entrepreneurs to follow suit in such cases to give back to their communities.

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© STA, 2022