A Toast to UK–Serbia Friendship: Gapuma at the King’s Birthday Party in Belgrade
19 June 2026 Gapuma Group is proud to have sponsored the King’s Birthday Party hosted by the British Embassy in Belgrade – a splendid garden reception bringing together figures from across government, business and the diplomatic community to celebrate the warm and enduring friendship between the United Kingdom and Serbia. It was a privilege to support the evening alongside a distinguished group of fellow sponsors, among them AstraZeneca, Range Rover, Chivas Regal, Frikom, Harrisons, Menzies Aviation and Delta DMD, the leading Serbian distributor of fast-moving consumer goods. Good company, in every sense. The evening offered a welcome reminder that trade and diplomacy move in step. Serbia continues to position itself as a dynamic hub at the crossroads of Central and South-Eastern Europe, and the United Kingdom remains a natural partner in that ambition – in commerce, in investment and in the exchange of ideas that underpins any lasting relationship between two nations. As a commodities trading company with a genuinely international footprint, Gapuma has long understood that strong bilateral ties are not an abstraction. They are built reception by reception, conversation by conversation, and partnership by partnership. Jack Bardakjian, Group Managing Director of Gapuma Group, said: “Gapuma takes great pride in being associated with the promotion and strengthening of bilateral ties between the United Kingdom and Serbia. Relationships of this kind open doors – for business, for communities and for the next generation of partnerships – and we are delighted to lend our support to an occasion that celebrates everything the two countries can achieve together.” Our thanks go to His Majesty’s Ambassador, Edward Ferguson, and the embassy team for their warm hospitality, and to everyone who joined us in raising a glass to a partnership with a long future ahead. See a video of the festivities here
Ghana: Where it all began, and where we headed next
There are companies that arrive in a market, and there are companies that were born in one. For Gapuma Group, Ghana is the latter. When our founder, Jack Bardakjian, started the business in 1999, the very first trade was in Ghana – a decision he took, in his own words, “against all the advice and all the predictions.” Twenty-six years on, that instinct has become the foundation of everything we are: an international commodities group sourcing from more than thirty countries and delivering to over fifty, with an active in-country presence in West Africa that traces directly back to where we began. So when Ash Unadkat, our Office and Quality Manager, made his first overseas trip on behalf of the company this month – accompanied by our Procurement Consultant, Raj Thakkar – it was no accident that the destination was Accra. You return to your roots when you want to grow. The timing could hardly be richer. Ghana stands at a genuinely interesting moment. The 24-hour economy initiative, the Accra–Kumasi Expressway, and continued development across the gold, oil, energy, cocoa, and financial sectors are reshaping the commercial landscape – the same sectors that have anchored the bilateral relationship between Ghana and the United Kingdom for generations. That relationship runs deep. Ghana was the first sub-Saharan African nation to win independence from colonial rule, in March 1957 – a milestone that made it a trailblazer for a continent. The bonds forged since, in language, trade, the Commonwealth, and a vast and vibrant diaspora, remain among the closest the UK holds anywhere in Africa. Our London-based Ghanaian colleague, Yannick Annor, captured that spirit beautifully after meeting the President of the Republic of Ghana in London on 31 May. He wrote of a diaspora encouraged to return, invest, and bring their knowledge home – and of his own reasons, as a French-Ghanaian, for choosing the UK precisely because it kept him close to Ghana. “We all have a role to play in shaping the future of our country,” he said. We could not agree more, and we are proud to play our small part. And then there is the football. In exactly twenty days, on 23 June, the Black Stars meet England at Gillette Stadium in their first-ever competitive fixture between the two nations. Whatever the scoreline, there is something fitting about it: two countries bound by history, meeting on the world’s biggest stage, just as one of them welcomes us back to where our story started. From a single trade in 1999 to a quarter-century of partnership – Ghana, it has always been you. 🇬🇭