Leading Croatian express parcel company Overseas Express, an Austrian Post subsidiary, has beenappointed as the new authorised service contractor for UPS in the Balkan country and has moved into
an enlarged central hub to handle greater volumes.The strategic agreement will allow UPS to strengthen its existing presence in Croatia andbenefit from Overseas’ position as the country’s leading provider in business-to-business courierexpress parcel distribution, while offering Overseas’ customers end-to-end global service with anoutstanding service support network.
Through UPS, Overseas will now offer its customers more comprehensive service offerings,including international shipments to more than 200 countries and territories worldwide, as well asall necessary handling services, the Croatian company said in a statement.
The majority of these services will be carried out at Overseas’ new state-of-the-artlogistics and distribution center at Hrvatski Leskovac, just outside Zagreb, which went intooperation earlier this month. The €10 million centre, located on a 20,000 sqm site, includes 3,000sqm of warehousing and sorting space. In addition to employing the most modern technologies andprocesses, the new centre will increase Overseas’ capacities sevenfold, allowing it to immediatelymeet the growing demands for international shipments between Croatia and international markets.
“This relationship is a perfect fit with our business strategy to internationalise ouroperations and continuously offer increased value to customers by meeting their evolving needs.Both UPS and Overseas are able to deliver the necessary depth and breadth of quality services thatprovide additional value to customers. As UPS’ authorised service contractor, we will combine ourservice strengths and make significant strides in enhancing our service portfolio that is nowsupported by a global network and respected brand that reflects the quality, reliability andcommitment that we continually aspire to deliver,” stated Tanja Rukavina, Managing Director ofOverseas.
Michael Mavropoulos, Managing Director for the Greece, Cyprus & Balkans Region for UPS,commented: “This relationship is reflective of the commitment of both companies to further improvespeed, efficiency and accessibility for the benefit of our international and Croatian customers.Our strategy balances customer needs on both a global and local basis, recognizing the importanceof having strong local service providers such as Overseas who enable us to continually provide ourcustomers with increased value and a competitive advantage in express delivery. Together, ourcompanies will be able to meet the growing demands brought on by the increasinginternationalisation of the Croatian marketplace.”
Overseas Express, which claims 38% of the Croatian CEP market, was acquired by Austrian Postin 2003. Since then, it has expanded its infrastructure and services. In February this year, thecompany opened a 1,500 sqm sorting centre in Matulji in a €3.5 million investment to act a centralhub for the key western Croatian regions of Rijeka, Kvarner and Istra.
