Darko Babic, CEO of DHL Serbia - We expect to resume our growth in 2012

(Darko Babic)

There are two things that are necessary for successful management of a company: to lead by example, and to enable people to work, DHL Serbia CEO Darko Babic says in an interview for eKapija.

DHL has recently celebrated its 20th anniversary of operations in Serbia. Our interlocutor, who has been working at DHL for 22 years, reminds our readers of the following:

- DHL first entered the local market in 1983, operating through mediators. Then DHL Yugoslavia was formed in 1989. In 1991, following the breakup of former Yugoslavia, DHL was registered as a domestic company with 100% foreign capital, which operates on the territory of Serbia.

CEO of DHL Serbia stresses that, despite their decades-long experience, they are never "asleep" and are always on a pioneer mission of some kind.

- If you want to be successful, you must constantly work to improve yourself. Every company offers great educational opportunities, so it is up to an individual to decide how much he or she will take advantage of such opportunities. Besides, it is very important to respect corporate rules. Sometimes people make mistakes because they want to change rules in a corporation. Such employees are quickly "chewed up and spit out" by the corporation. People should position themselves to keep their strengths visible and weaknesses hidden. If you are not talented to do some things, you can learn how to do them. That is why corporations invest significant amounts of money in the organization of seminars, trainings, business academies, all that with the aim of improving the knowledge and skills of their staff.

eKapija: DHL is widely known as an international express shipping company. You have also expanded your business. Would you, please, name the services your company can offer to businessmen?

- DHL is not only a glorified courier any more. We now also render services of truck, container and air transport of goods, provide complete logistic and storage services, check the final quality of goods, and carry out final distribution. The strategy of Deutsche Post DHL reads that DP is going to be a "postman" in Germany, whereas DHL will be a logistic company for the whole world. Development of the Serbian market will definitely be accompanied by the expansion of our portfolio of services offered to clients in Serbia. Our big advantage lies in DHL's global network, which covers the entire world, except for Turkmenistan. Our activities at 120,000 destinations are made possible thanks to 250,000 employees of DHL, which annually ships over 1.8 billion parcels.

- Serbia is connected with 1,500 terminals in Europe by truck transport, and goods are shipped by truck to and from France, Germany, Italy, Spain, etc. DHL's main centers in Serbia are situated in Belgrade, Novi Sad and Nis.

M.K.