Petar Kolognat, CTP Business Development Director - We are building logistics and industrial parks in 10 strategic locations in Serbia

(Photo: CTP HQ)

eKapija: Half a million square meters let out is a really impressive result. What contributed the most to reaching that figure?

- Definitely the diversity of locations in our portfolio. Our development strategy is to be present in all cities where we see potential and to always have an option for every client we communicate with.

eKapija: In which cities are CTParks operating?

- Just in the last year, we have doubled the number of cities, so that after Belgrade, Novi Sad and Kragujevac, CTPark Jagodina, CTPark Sombor and CTPark Niš are included in our portfolio in Serbia. In Belgrade, we are actually present in three strategic locations - CTPark Belgrade North in Novi Banovci, CTPark Belgrade West in Šimanovci and CTPark Belgrade City, which proudly bears the epithet of the largest logistics center in Serbia with its 135,000m2.

(Photo: CTPark Belgrade North)

eKapija: Can it be said that you made a revolutionary move when you invested in the CTPark Belgrade City logistics center in the immediate vicinity of the city, i.e. near Kvantaš?

- I would rather say that the move was very well thought out and planned in detail. The entire team saw the enormous potential of its premium location, considering it is inner-city and only ten kilometers from the center of Belgrade. At that time, there was no Class A facility in a similar location on the market. The attractiveness of the location even had us move our offices here.

eKapija: How satisfied are you with the interest of clients in this location?

- Since we rented almost 90% of the capacity whilst in construction phase, I can easily say that we are well satisfied with the interest. We expect the remaining space to be let out by the end of the year.

(Photo: CTPark Belgrade City)

eKapija: After that business move that proved to be successful, are you currently looking for more locations for such facilities that will be located within cities?

- Absolutely. The preparation of CTPark Novi Sad City project is in its final stage so we expect construction to start by the end of summer at the latest, while in Belgrade we are preparing a completely new inner city location. The main reason for the development of such locations is that they open new labor markets for our clients. We are witnessing a general problem of labor shortage.

eKapija: Is there also a trend in other operating European countries that facilities of this type are built and opened closer to the cities?

- In many cases, those are brownfield projects, where old buildings are bought and reconstructed- as CTP recently did on the CTPark Bremen project in Germany. In Belgrade and Novi Sad, however, this can hardly be the case, because the former industrial facilities within these cities are primarily intended for the construction of commercial and residential buildings.

eKapija: You mentioned the problem with the labor force, are you also looking for solutions in other locations that are not within the cities?

eKapija: It is known that Chinese manufacturers of car components want to move production to Europe. Since we know you offer turnkey solutions for the industry, do you therefore get such clients?

- Back in 2020, CTP built a factory for the Chinese company YanFeng in CTPark Kragujevac, which was followed by two more large projects for the same client. Our team has been going to China for meetings with clients for the second year in a row, we have already brought the Lianbo company to CTPark Novi East, while we are currently finalizing negotiations with another renowned company. Certainly, the trend of their arrival is still active, mainly because companies from the Far East are conditioned by their clients in Europe to move production closer to their borders, or their factories, that is. CTP is on the front line of that trend known as nearshoring, because last year it opened its branch in Asia, where we now have our own people who deal with business development, communicate with clients and facilitate our communication with them.

(Photo: CTPark Novi Sad East)

eKapija: Bearing in mind your previous business, is CTP currently focusing more on logistics or production?

- More than half of our portfolio in Serbia still consists of production facilities that we operate on a "turnkey" basis for previously contracted clients, while we develop logistics facilities in premium locations speculatively, i.e. without a known client.

eKapija: When it comes to e-commerce, which is developing more and more, in your opinion, will it help or reduce the development of logistics, what impact does it have on it?

- In our Serbian portfolio we were not affected by the e-commerce trend that was really felt in some other countries where CTP operates. In my opinion, this trend will come together with the change of consumer habits.

eKapija: Regarding the development of your parks in Serbia, some time ago you decided to switch to the in-house construction? In what way did this affect the development of your projects in Serbia?

- Very positive. Because with speculative construction, it is even crucial to have in-house construction, because you can control the dynamics of project execution yourself. This means that we reach one level of construction and then, depending on the negotiations with the client, we are able to modify the building to meet their specific requirements. This construction principle enables significantly greater flexibility.

eKapija: You also insist that every building should follow the principles of green construction and energy efficiency. Why is this type of investment so important to CTP during project implementation?

- CTP has long been a pioneer in the development of sustainable industrial and logistics space and our long-term goal is to be fully carbon neutral— not just operationally, but through the entire asset lifecycle. Green Bonds form an important part of our strategy to deliver our ESG ambitions and recently we have fully allocated the €4.25 billion raised to date through this innovative form of green finance. On the other hand, the demands of clients (both production and logistics) are becoming more strict year after year, so green certificates for buildings are becoming the norm.

(Photo: CTPark Kragujevac)

eKapija: Regarding long-term plans in this part of Europe, does CTP plan to enter the market of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, and could the Serbian branch of CTP become regional?

- For now, the focus of development is in Serbia. However, we are actively following the opportunities in the region and in the case of some big requests, we would certainly consider development in the mentioned countries as well.

eKapija: When it comes to Serbia only, is the need for logistics and projects like you develop continuing to grow?

- Our development pace proves that. We believe in the market potential in Serbia.