VlatkoDjuricek, Director of CTP for Serbia – We are opening Class A logistics facilities on strategic positions

Amore than a year has passed since Phoenix Company opened a logistics center in the industrial zone of Simanovci, in the proximity of the airport and main roads leading to Budapest, Sofia, Skopje and Zagreb. This 12,000 m2 facility is part of CTP’s portfolio.
CTP owns CTPark Network – the largest integrated system of top quality business parks in Central and Eastern Europe, with more than 4.5 million m2 of Class A facilities in more than 97 strategic locations.

In the first phase, CTP plans investments worth EUR 75 million in Serbia, and in the first 120,000 m2 of facilities in Belgrade and Novi Sad. The first project in Serbia – CTP Park Belgrade West with its two separate facilities is in the final stage of realization. It is a 12,000 m2 facility, which accommodates “Phoenix” and which has an extension possibility of 5,500 m2. A second investment in the same region will include the facility of 13,600 m2, while the second quarter of 2019 is the planned opening.

They also plan to build an object of 23,000 m2 in Novi Sad, and the planned opening is the third quarter of 2019.
VlatkoDjuricek, the director of CTP for Serbia, in an interview with PlutonLogistics talks about the specificity of the company’s operations, as well as the offer for logistics providers.

He emphasized that they are interested in cooperating with all the companies that are present in Serbia, as well as with those who are planning to come to our market.

PL: Tell us about the CTP Company on a global level.

– CTP owns the CTPark Network – the largest integrated system of top quality business parks in Central and Eastern Europe, with more than 4.5 million m2 of Class A facilities in more than 97 strategic locations. The company plans to expand its portfolio of space for leasethrough expanding cooperation with existing clients. CTP has been operating at a global level for 20 years, and as the most representative projects, we highlight the Brno Industrial Park in the Czech Republic and CTP Park Bucharest in Romania. We currently have 370 employees, five of which are working in Serbia.

PL: What were your reasons for starting your business in Serbia?

– CTP is strategically looking at new markets in the long run. We established, with our internal analysis and indicators of market needs, that there is a significant room for the implementation of projects in Serbia. The Serbian market is seen as a significant opportunity for further business development and is considered to be comparable to the company’s previous experience in Central and Eastern Europe. It is important to note that there is a qualified workforce and a satisfactorily developed infrastructure, as well as a great possibility for the realization of large industrial facilities.

PL: What are your plans for our market?

– At this moment, we are the only international institutional investor-developer in Serbia in the field of industry. We have a clear intention to be active and to further develop on the Serbian market.

PL: You have a large number of car industry companies operating in Serbia among your clients. Are they your target group?

-We are market-oriented and open to cooperation with everyone on the market, but certainly especially cherish the relationships with our long-term clients.

PL: What can you offer to logistics and transport companies?

– We offer premium Class A facilities on strategic positions to modern logistic companies, as well as all other clients. Additionally, since we operate in several countries and we have several industrial parks in each country, we offer flexibility in the case of an increase of the volume of our clients’ business and in the case of reductions (e.g. moving in case of decrease). We invite all domestic and international companies to cooperate with us.

PL: Explain your concept of business. What services do you offer to your customers?

– We are an investor-developer who provides full service to all clients from analysis to “plug and play” facilities that are fully in line with their needs.

PL: When we are talking about logistics and transport companies – are the prices of your services competitive in Serbia?

– Our prices are absolutely competitive. Our greatest competitiveness confirmation is 97.3% occupancy of the space at the portfolio level of about 4.5 million m2 across Europe.

PL: Digitization, use of artificial intelligence, Internet of things in the field of logistics and distribution are increasingly talked about. Does your company monitor these trends and to what extent?

– CTP uses internally all the significant innovations that are present in our industry. The entire CTP system is linked and every segment of the job, from building relationships with clients to property management, is solved with the latest software solutions. We consider e-commerce, as an already existing way of trading and distribution, as a great chance for us as a developer.

PL: How do you see the Serbian market and the position of our country in the region? In what direction will the industry develop?

– Serbia has a very good position and is of great importance for CTP. As far as industrialization is concerned,we also believe that similar scenarios will occur in Serbia, as they did in other countries.