Ivo Kuljis

Ivo Mateo Kuljis Füchtner (born 19 August 1953) is a Bolivian businessman and politician of Croatian descent. He is currently the owner of Red Uno de Bolivia, Banco Económico and the Hipermaxi supermarket chain.

Biography Ivo Kuljis was born on the early hours of August 19, 1953 to Mateo Kuljiš and Aida Fuchtner at the Eva Perón Maternity in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Born left-handed, his name was initially Ivo (corresponding to Juan or John in Croatian) but, given his personality, his father gave him as his first name Ivo Mateo. As a child, he had a very active life, but was frequently monitored by his parents to adhere to moral norms. Ivo denied entering kindergarten due to the pretext that he was mixed and didn't like kindergarten dances, and upon seeing his determination, his educational career started directly in primary school, where he studied at La Salle College. Since he was left-handed, he had problems writing, and the school teachers ordered him to write with his right hand. He then started to learn writing with both hands. Upon leaving La Salle he moved to the Muyurina boarding school in Montero, where his interest for agriculture kickstarted. He graduated from Muyurina with an agronomical baccalaureate degree. While serving a year in the military, he helped teach at least five people how to read and write. Later on February 2, 1984, he founded Cruceña de Televisión, whose broadcasts effectively started on April 1 the same year. Kupel entered a new stage by starting a paper recycling plant, an industrial and ecological advancement in the city. The crisis in the early 80s left Kupel intact, but had to form a labor union in order to prevent the escalation of a crisis. COB laborers threatened to close the plant, but Ivo was against it. In the agricultural field, he created Avicruz, an incubation facility. In 1984, he creates the Private University of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, at a time when Bolivia was facing an educational crisis, and diversified Kupel to include a baccalaureate program and a basketball team.

In 2016, he became the only businessman to receive Decree nº 2887 to manufacture PET bottles in a virtual monopoly. The norm affected EMPACAR. EMPACAR established a plant in Cochabamba in February 2023 to make recycled plastic bottles. In 2024, Kuljis, through EMPACAR, reacquired the Kupel plant.

Political career Ivo Kuljis supported Carlos Palenque's CONDEPA in the 1993 Bolivian general election, the party ended in third place with only 14.29% of the votes. He led the Solidarity Civic Unity campaign for presidency in 1997, with Juan Chahín as his running mate, ending in fifth place. In both cases, he used Red Uno to promote his campaign. In 2002, he was the running mate of New Republican Force candidate Manfred Reyes Villa. He used the money from Canal Mágico, put up for sale, to finance his campaign.

His electoral campaigns were seen as failures, but thanks to the relations he had with the parties he worked with, his assets boosted.

Personal life In his childhood, he lived in a large house at the El Arenal neighborhood. While attending the Muyurina College, he won the shot put and freestyle swimmeing competitions at the school olympics. Illustrious Child of Santa Cruz 2023