Dragan Gavrilović, General Manager, Sika Serbia d.o.o.

Since its founding, Sika has been a symbol of innovative power and technology, which is why the placement and implementation of new technologies, materials and solutions on the markets of Serbia and Montenegro represents a special challenge for our employees, reveals Sika General Manager Dragan Gavrilović.

Last year was one of the most successful for Sika at the global level, but also in Serbia. To what extent does the fact that you’re part of such a large and successful system ease your work in Serbia?

– Growth of 13.6 per cent was achieved at the global level during 2018, with which Sika’s total turnover exceeded the magical figure of seven billion Swiss francs. Growth in profits of 5.9 per cent, four new acquisitions, 85 new patents, energy consumption reduction of 5.8 per cent, 11 new factories, 16.8 hours of guidance and training per employee, all in just one year, 2018. This very indicatively points to the strength of the company and its growth.

Sika Srbija realised the growth of 16.3 per cent in the last year, achieving a turnover of more than 4.5 billion RSD, which ranks us among the very successful Sika companies and makes us very proud.

Since the emergence of the company, Sika has operated according to the principles of continuous development, in order to ensure successful responses to all current and future market demands. What are the greatest challenges in your line of work?

– Sika’s company model is synonymous with enduring, successful and profitable growth. Successful implementation of strategic goals for the 2015-2020 period – based on five basic principles (Market Penetration, Innovation, Emerging Markets, Acquisitions and Values), along with the parallel implementation of the Sustainability Strategy and the Strategic Target Markets Strategy – is for now yielding the expected contribution to results, whilst at the same time securing an excellent base for future growth and development.

The greatest challenges in the work we do are related to preserving profitable growth while retaining a continuous commitment to the users of Sika’s services, systems and materials, and including all stakeholders in the realisation of projects, from initial idea to end-user, with a special emphasis on our partners who directly install our systemic solutions or individual materials. Considering that Sika has, since its founding, been a symbol of innovative power and technology, the placement and implementation of new technologies, materials and solutions on the markets of Serbia and Montenegro represent a special challenge for our employees.

Despite certain difficulties, the application of modern and advanced methods and technologies is happily accepted in Serbia and Montenegro, so we can be ranked among the world’s best according to that parameter

Common obstacles to these endeavours include local habits and, to an even greater extent, local regulations and standards that have not yet been fully aligned or harmonised with the standards and regulations of EU member states, although the situation is much more unified today than it was 10 or 15 years ago.

Is your business policy best reflected in the slogan “From floor to roof”?

– Apart from Sika’s official global slogan, “BUILDING TRUST”, another of Sika’s slogans is “Roof to Floor”. This should illustrate the ability and intention of Sika to offer a very wide array of possible systemic solutions at all stages of construction and for a more than a wide range of purposes.

Particular importance has been given in recent years to a stronger presence in the construction of housing, in the field of finishing works for the construction industry. In order to implement these goals at the highest, corporate level, a special sector – BUILDING FINISHING – has been established and is operating successfully, which realises its full worth via the sales distribution network (DISTRIBUTION) and which is increasingly successful in providing more complete and better support to our partners. Like in many other areas, Sika Srbija d.o.o. is also one of the most successful Sika countries in this area, as well as a major driver of growth.

Sika is also a world leader in the area of bridges repairs. Have you had an opportunity to cooperate with the Serbian Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure?

– Sika Srbija initiated cooperation with all relevant stakeholders in this field from its very founding in 2002. We’ve organised several very successful seminars on the topic of the bridge structure solutions that Sika offers.

We are particularly proud of the results achieved and our presence in the field of bridge construction and repair, because bridges are much more than standard construction undertakings

During the past 15 years, we’ve participated in strengthening the structures of more than 150 bridges in Serbia and in Montenegro, as well as in the construction (applying some of Sika’s solutions) of probably all-new bridge structures implemented during that period.

You are present in almost all construction sites in Serbia and Montenegro. What are the biggest and most significant projects that you are working on at present?

– Growth of the construction sector in both Serbia and Montenegro, as well as the strength of Sika Serbia, have contributed to us currently being present on several thousand smaller or larger projects. It is difficult to single out individual projects, but certainly standing out in terms of their significance and scope are the Bar-Boljare Highway project in Montenegro, projects on corridors 10 and 11 in Serbia, the Belgrade Waterfront project, with all its structures, the reconstruction and continued construction of the Clinical Centre of Serbia, the Kostolac TPP project, the ‘Čortavci’ tunnel project on a section of the Belgrade-Budapest high-speed rail link, as well as many other infrastructure, industrial and residential-office facilities. It is especially important for us to maintain our full commitment to projects that are not as impressive, in terms of their size or importance, but which are as important to us as they are to their investors and end-users.

You are increasing your participation in the field of the automotive industry and transport year on year. What are your expectations and plans for the years ahead?

– With more than 30 years of experience in the automotive and transport industry, Sika, like Tier 1, is a supplier together with its customers, helping to create the cars, buses, road haulage vehicles and rail locomotives of the future. Sika is a leader in adhesive products, sealants, reinforced and acoustic insulation in the automotive industry.

We will be focused on the period ahead on:

• Strengthening our position in the “after-market segment”, i.e. in the segment of sales of products for the repair and protection of bodywork and windscreen adhesive;

• Developing cooperation with local manufacturers of buses, rail vehicles and haulage vehicle upgrades

We expect the most from foreign companies that are launching production on our market, such as Siemens, in the production of trams, and the new owners of Ikarbus – Chinese company Jin Long. Both companies are our traditional partners, with which we cooperate successfully worldwide.