NEMANJA NETKOVIĆ, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE AGENT PLUS GROUP, FOR E-KAPIJA

The Agent Plus Group holds one of the leading positions in South-Eastern Europe in overseas container transport, river vessel transport with its own fleet, the chartering of vessel space, and also services in the field of multimodal transport.

Furthermore, as Nemanja Netković, Executive Director of the Agent Plus Group, notes, in order to complete its transport and logistics services, the Agent Plus Group has developed an independent freight-forwarding operation, which has been granted the status of Authorised Economic Operator – AEO by the Customs Administration.

Netković points out that Agent Plus has, for three years in a row, been awarded the platinum AAA credit rating for business excellence, as the most reliable, credible and low-risk business entity to cooperate with. In addition, the company is a member of several professional associations and world-renowned networks of agents – FIATA, WCA, PPL – as well as of national chambers.

Do you have any current developments related to your business that you would like to share – any innovations or news regarding business successes, a new partnership, branches, digitalisation, new services, environmental protection…?

– Our industry is by its very nature innovative and involves frequent changes and improvements. To be competitive, you have to establish your business dynamics in that way, with constant “fine-tuning”. Starting from your question, we can be satisfied, because we have achieved everything you mention. In any case, our most significant achievement this year is the continuity of the development from previous years, which we have carried on this year too, above all through investment in new vessel capacities. This year we invested in our new convoy, with a total capacity of over 4,000 mt for bulk cargo, which is one of our core businesses. In this way we reached a total of 30,000 t of cargo-space capacity on the Danube, which places us among the absolute leaders on the domestic and regional market. We are confident that our new convoy – Arion – will meet all expectations.

As a company with many years of experience in transport and logistics, can you compare the “weight” of the two major crises that hit the transport and logistics sector one after the other (the pandemic and the war in Ukraine), and which of them you coped with more easily and in what ways?

– Those two crises could be regarded as one – a crisis extended in time, since each of them in its own right created difficulties and additional problems in logistics. On the other hand, as with every crisis, whether professional or personal, each such crisis is an opportunity to re-examine your performance and potential and to see the given crisis as a chance to stand out – with a different, new strength and additional creativity, rather than as weak – as a capable individual, company or society, and through your flexibility to show that you understand the new, changed conditions, accept the risks and achieve new victories. We fought back with the inexhaustible drive and commitment of our employees, who are outstanding professionals, love their work and have for years contributed to Agent Plus progressing and achieving excellent results.

From a leading position in the field of container transport, but also as a company that owns its own river fleet, how do you view the current situation with container transport, and at the same time with the transport of goods on Serbia’s rivers? What do shipping operators complain about the most?

– The current recession that Serbia too is now in has not bypassed the container transport market either. An evident drop in demand at the global level has driven the enormously high prices down to levels we remember from before the Covid crisis. We believe that we will not see major changes throughout the year, and that a more significant recovery will follow only next year. Most shipping operators on the Danube managed, over the past year, to take advantage of the changed market circumstances caused by the armed conflict in Ukraine and the significant rise in grain prices on the world market, which also caused freight rates to increase. The proper use of the additional profits earned was mostly channelled into expanding capacities, as well as into refurbishing the fleet itself, which in previous years, due to low prices and profit margins, could not be carried out properly. In general, the greatest challenges in river transport are always linked to the lack of adequate investment in infrastructure.

What are currently the biggest problems in transport and logistics?

– Given the speed of change and of business conditions on the market, the biggest challenges are finding quality personnel and the way in which a particular company and its employees will adapt to the new circumstances – how quickly they will react and shift their business model from one to another. That is never easy; it requires investing additional energy and motivation into such changes, but it is possible and ultimately necessary if we want good results and professional employees, in whom we continuously invest, making our group skilled and ready for every challenge.

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Head offices and business units of the Agent Plus Group in Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia

The Agent Plus Group, which numbers more than 150 employees, in addition to its head office and business units in Serbia – in Belgrade, Novi Sad and Inđija – has also operated in Croatia since 2008, with a head office in Zagreb and a branch in Rijeka, and since 2010 in Montenegro, with a head office in Bar and a branch in Podgorica. In cooperation with its Belgian partner and freight-forwarding company Ahlers, Agent Plus founded the company Ahlers Plus in Niš in 2013.

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Tell us something about the company’s future plans and projects?

– Our plan is to continue at full strength in the direction we set at the very start of our operations, back in 2007 when the company was founded. Investment in convoys, the expansion of the business and the organic growth of our company in general are not possible unless that growth is accompanied by organisational development, which is why our employees are our absolute focus and a cornerstone of successful business. We want others on the market to recognise us as an employer that builds an organisational culture in which ambition, dedication and hard work are recognised and valued. With our employees we build a relationship full of trust, giving them support to initiate changes, implement new solutions and improve processes, while we are here to reward their contribution. We are most proud of all our employees who began their careers at Agent Plus and grew together with us into serious professionals, recognised on the market as credible in their work – and that is one of our most important goals now and in the future.