Otto Zsivkovits, regional director for southeast Europe at cargo-partner - Serbia on our investment map

Cargo-partner, the Vienna-based company engaged in freight-forwarding, international transport and logistics, has over 100 offices and 2,200 employees in 27 countries. It has recently included logistic services in its offer in Serbia, with the aim of providing the companies operating in our country with the complete service - cargo transport, storage and distribution.

Otto Zsivkovits, cargo-partner`s regional director for countries of former Yugoslavia and Bulgaria, speaks for eKapija about the plans of that Austrian company for our country and the region, its new services, ecological transport of goods, and future investments.

eKapija: You have recently launched a logistics service in Serbia. What new knowledge do you bring?

- Due to numerous requests of our clients for the provision of the complete service that includes cargo storage, delivery and distribution in several countries, we have decided to launch a logistics service in Serbia as well. The company cargo-partner has so far been known for maritime, air and truck transport of goods, and we want to develop the logistics sector in the future. We are today running Europe-based warehouses spanning a total of 120,000 square meters. We have also developed our own cargo storage software - LogSpace, which can be adapted to our clients` requests and connected with their systems. That software help our clients run their warehouses, keep track of their stock and safety stock, create purchase and commissioning orders, make reports and various statistics on request, etc.

eKapija: What are the advantages of letting cargo storage and distribution be done by professionals over building your own warehouse?

- One of advantages is the company`s liquidity, as well as freeing from the initial investment. In addition to the funds for the construction and equipping of a warehouse, the company also requires staff, software, knowledge. The advantages of having your cargo stored in our facility include: professional service, reduced fixed storage costs, great flexibility, and shorter "lead time", which is the amount of time between the placing of an order and the receipt of the goods ordered. The percentage of outsourcing services in Europe is quite high. In early 2000, companies wanted to build their own warehouses because of a big economic boom. When the crisis started, the need for the optimization of costs and outsourcing services emerged. As far as Serbia is concerned, the logistic services rendered by professionals are mainly used by multinational companies that had a positive experience in that field in their home countries.

eKapija: You are building a logistics center in Slovakia. Why have you chosen that country? Which other countries is it going to cover?

- We already have a logistics center in Bratislava, and we are now working on the construction of another such center in the town of Dunajska Streda, which is situated within a triangle formed by Slovakia, Hungary and Austria. That logistics center will span a total of 60,000 square meters, half of which will be occupied by warehouse facilities, with the enough room for 50,000 pallets. It is part of the Metrans railway container terminal, which is connected with ports in Hamburg, Bremerhafen, Kopar, and Rijeka. The vicinity enables cargo-partner to load goods directly into a container, without emitting harmful gases.

eKapija: Have you ever considered building something similar in the region of southeast Europe?

- We`ve been looking for a location and land for a long time, but we have not found anything adequate yet, which is why we are working with the partner. If we get the right offer and the market demands so, we will fulfill our existing plan for Serbia and other countries in the region.

eKapija: How much are your operations affected by the growth of the Chinese economy? What is the fastest way for the goods from the Far East to reach Serbia?

- Growth of the Chinese economy definitely affects our business, and we are mainly working with the countries of the Far East. But there are also some other markets that have emerged lately, such as India, African countries, and Turkey. Our advantage lies in the fact that we were among the first to start transporting full (FCL) and less than full containers (LCL). Among the rest, we have offices in the whole region of Asia and India, and the communication between them is internal. What is interesting for companies from Serbia is that we operate regular LCL lines from China and India, which allows for a shorter transit time and better service.

eKapija: Which ports do you use?

- The company cargo-partner is the leader in the Adriatic and mainly uses ports of Rijeka and Kopar because of a good transit time. Also, we use the port of Bar for certain regions, as well as the port of Salonika in the Aegean Sea. The port of Constanta is not that interesting to us at the moment because the river transport on the Danube is not sufficiently developed yet, and there is also no advantage in terms of transit time.

eKapija: Is the recently acquired status of an EU candidate going to encourage foreign companies to invest in Serbia?

- Yes, absolutely. We hope for that to happen for the sake of both our business and Serbia because we feel that your country is a stable partner. We have already noticed that bureaucracy has been reduced, but Serbia must also work on strengthening the infrastructure, reducing the corruption and modernizing the customs in the future. Your greatest advantage is high-quality manpower. We hope that Croatia will soon become a member of the EU, and I personally and on behalf of my company wish for Serbia to enter the EU in the next round.

eKapija: How did you overcome the first wave of the crisis? How does the new crisis affect your operations and relations with clients?

- Our advantage lies in the fact that we operate in Europe, Asia and America, so that the company was able to avoid potential impacts on the market by switching the focus. We invested in sales, new products and services, thus increasing and expanding our cooperation with existing clients. As far as new crisis is concerned, there are certain indicators in Asia, which is reflected in the reduced number of orders. On the other hand, we now have more business to do in the market of Europe, and we`ve noticed that some companies place orders for goods from Turkey and "stan countries" (Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan...) instead of China.

eKapija: The company cargo-partner attaches great importance to environment protection. The European Union has announced ecological taxes for trucks. Which environmental projects in the field of transport can we expect in the future?

- Introduction of ecological taxes for heavy freight vehicles will definitely increase the price of road transport. As an international company, cargo-transport attaches great importance to the responsibility toward the environment and its sustainability. We sponsor technical faculties in Vienna and Graz that work on a new jet engine that could reduce pollution. The motto of our project is "Innovation instead of Improvement." A package of innovations is in use since 2008, and a result of the improvement of transport is 19,113 tonnes less carbon dioxide emitted per year. That equals 2.742 million liters of diesel fuel and 3.5 million liters of petroleum for ships, which is a total of 6.2 million liters less fuel consumed per year. There is also an idea to reduce the speed of ships, thus reducing fuel consumption as well. In that case, the economy would have to get used to having their goods traveling few days longer.

M.K.