Baku became hub for Georgian cargo and express delivery services
Express delivery services were not restricted in Georgia, despite the war condition. Leading international express delivery companies: Maerks, TNT, DHL were working under emergency situation conditions. Companies believe the situation will soon be stabilised in Georgia.
Maersk Express deliveries were not paralyzed during the war situation, according to Davit Mirianashvili, Import Specialist of Maersk Georgia.
“We had several problems on August 9, 10, and 11 of 2008, but our office was not shut down. We avoided delivering cargos as the company wanted to feel more safe. Maersk did not get any kind of loss. One of the significant difficulties is that containers which have already arrived in Georgia could not be brought to Tbilisi . I hope that in a week everything will be stabilized,” Mirianashvili declared to The FINANCIAL.
Maersk has activities in a variety of business sectors, primarily transportation (container shipping fleet) and energy (offshore oil exploration and transportation). It is the largest container ship operator and supply vessel operator in the world.
Maersk is based in Copenhagen, Denmark, and has subsidiaries and offices in more than 130 countries worldwide. The group has around 110,000 employees.
“Poti’s Port is still continuing to work and foreign ships are collaborating with us uninterestingly. Supposedly they are not frightened by the current situation, as Maersk is expecting a new ship with cargo load by next week,” Mirianashvili added.
“Air Freight services were restricted on August 7, 2008”, Salome Chikovani, DHL Marketing Director said. “All cargo was sent directly to Baku. DHL Georgia was carrying the freight from Baku to Tbilisi . Our working process became rather complicated, but we have not stopped our service for even one day,” Chikovani told The FINANCIAL.
DHL is a Deutsche Post World Net company of Germany that provides international Mail, Express, Logistics and Finance. DHL’s global headquarters are located in Bonn and London.
“I can declare proudly that DHL service’s prices were not increased despite the war situation and will not increase in the nearest future. There were several problems connected to the land express deliveries, but DHL plans to overcome its negative environment with its hard work. Express deliveries by land were seriously reduced after August 8 which was significant,” Chikovani noted.
DHL owns its own cargo airlines, European Air Transport, originally based in Brussels, and DHL Air, based at the East Midlands Airport in the United Kingdom. EAT moved from Brussels Airport in Belgium to Leipzig/Halle Airport in Germany in spring 2008 with its fleet of Boeing 757SF freighters and Airbus A300 B4 freighters. Leipzig is now a major DHL European Airline hub with dedicated brand new facilities.
“Land deliveries have been extremely reduced, as you know central highways are blocked by Russian troops. So there is left only one way to provide our service, through: Akhaltsikhe, Tsalka, Manglisi and then Tbilisi . But this way is regarded a very hard road, as this highway is in very bad condition. DHL lorries are very expensive, each one costing approximately USD 200 thousand and it is very difficult to spoil such transport on the way, besides that when winter comes the route will close down automatically. DHL will keep the service price at the same level, even we would begin to think about decreasing, to express support for the Georgian population,” Gogita Kerkadze, Manager of DHL Heavy Deliveries.
According to Nino Menteshashvili, Director of TNT, the war has brought tremendously bad results for international express deliveries.
“We foresee that our company will have financial losses, but they have not been calculated yet, as the war condition is not over in Georgia,” Menteshashvili declared.
TNT N.V. is a global express and mail delivery services company with headquarters in Hoofddorp, the Netherlands. In the Netherlands. According to TNT’s global site, the company’s mail division recorded sales of about EUR 4 billion in 2007.
The company’s express delivery services unit, known as TNT Express, has fully owned operations in 65 countries and delivers documents, parcels and pieces of freight to over 200 countries. TNT’s express division recorded sales of over EUR 6 billion in 2007, which is a 12% increase from the previous year.
“International deliveries were not stopped, but our staff had to work under pressure. Internal delivers are far more difficult for the company at the given moment, as east and west are divided by Russian troops. I want to mention that the delivering system works organisationally inside the western towns: Batumi, Kobuleti, Zugdidi. The most difficult thing is to connect those cities to the capital of Georgia. TNT will not increase its service price, internal deliveries cost GEL 5-50 and international deliveries cost EUR 25 and more,” Menteshashvili said.
“If the situation will not quiet down in Georgia, we will still continue working, but we will inform our partners abroad that there are cities in Georgia in which we can not continue working, such as Sokhumi. But I am optimistic and intend for everything to return to the same position as it was before August 8, 2008,” Menteshashvili added.
Maersk Express deliveries were not paralyzed during the war situation, according to Davit Mirianashvili, Import Specialist of Maersk Georgia.
“We had several problems on August 9, 10, and 11 of 2008, but our office was not shut down. We avoided delivering cargos as the company wanted to feel more safe. Maersk did not get any kind of loss. One of the significant difficulties is that containers which have already arrived in Georgia could not be brought to Tbilisi . I hope that in a week everything will be stabilized,” Mirianashvili declared to The FINANCIAL.
Maersk has activities in a variety of business sectors, primarily transportation (container shipping fleet) and energy (offshore oil exploration and transportation). It is the largest container ship operator and supply vessel operator in the world.
Maersk is based in Copenhagen, Denmark, and has subsidiaries and offices in more than 130 countries worldwide. The group has around 110,000 employees.
“Poti’s Port is still continuing to work and foreign ships are collaborating with us uninterestingly. Supposedly they are not frightened by the current situation, as Maersk is expecting a new ship with cargo load by next week,” Mirianashvili added.
“Air Freight services were restricted on August 7, 2008”, Salome Chikovani, DHL Marketing Director said. “All cargo was sent directly to Baku. DHL Georgia was carrying the freight from Baku to Tbilisi . Our working process became rather complicated, but we have not stopped our service for even one day,” Chikovani told The FINANCIAL.
DHL is a Deutsche Post World Net company of Germany that provides international Mail, Express, Logistics and Finance. DHL’s global headquarters are located in Bonn and London.
“I can declare proudly that DHL service’s prices were not increased despite the war situation and will not increase in the nearest future. There were several problems connected to the land express deliveries, but DHL plans to overcome its negative environment with its hard work. Express deliveries by land were seriously reduced after August 8 which was significant,” Chikovani noted.
DHL owns its own cargo airlines, European Air Transport, originally based in Brussels, and DHL Air, based at the East Midlands Airport in the United Kingdom. EAT moved from Brussels Airport in Belgium to Leipzig/Halle Airport in Germany in spring 2008 with its fleet of Boeing 757SF freighters and Airbus A300 B4 freighters. Leipzig is now a major DHL European Airline hub with dedicated brand new facilities.
“Land deliveries have been extremely reduced, as you know central highways are blocked by Russian troops. So there is left only one way to provide our service, through: Akhaltsikhe, Tsalka, Manglisi and then Tbilisi . But this way is regarded a very hard road, as this highway is in very bad condition. DHL lorries are very expensive, each one costing approximately USD 200 thousand and it is very difficult to spoil such transport on the way, besides that when winter comes the route will close down automatically. DHL will keep the service price at the same level, even we would begin to think about decreasing, to express support for the Georgian population,” Gogita Kerkadze, Manager of DHL Heavy Deliveries.
According to Nino Menteshashvili, Director of TNT, the war has brought tremendously bad results for international express deliveries.
“We foresee that our company will have financial losses, but they have not been calculated yet, as the war condition is not over in Georgia,” Menteshashvili declared.
TNT N.V. is a global express and mail delivery services company with headquarters in Hoofddorp, the Netherlands. In the Netherlands. According to TNT’s global site, the company’s mail division recorded sales of about EUR 4 billion in 2007.
The company’s express delivery services unit, known as TNT Express, has fully owned operations in 65 countries and delivers documents, parcels and pieces of freight to over 200 countries. TNT’s express division recorded sales of over EUR 6 billion in 2007, which is a 12% increase from the previous year.
“International deliveries were not stopped, but our staff had to work under pressure. Internal delivers are far more difficult for the company at the given moment, as east and west are divided by Russian troops. I want to mention that the delivering system works organisationally inside the western towns: Batumi, Kobuleti, Zugdidi. The most difficult thing is to connect those cities to the capital of Georgia. TNT will not increase its service price, internal deliveries cost GEL 5-50 and international deliveries cost EUR 25 and more,” Menteshashvili said.
“If the situation will not quiet down in Georgia, we will still continue working, but we will inform our partners abroad that there are cities in Georgia in which we can not continue working, such as Sokhumi. But I am optimistic and intend for everything to return to the same position as it was before August 8, 2008,” Menteshashvili added.