Georgia’s leading company in the transportation of cargo throughout Georgia and former CIS countries, Gianti Logistics, is planning a new logistics hub to act as a transport corridor connecting east and west.
General Manager of Gianti Logistics Giorgi Makhatadze said that currently the main challenge of the company is coping with growing demand.
“The main challenges are to increase the fleet and arrange warehousing infrastructure in order to be logistically prepared to meet the increasing volume of cargo,” he said.
Gianti Logistics has been operating on the Georgian market since 2005, transporting all types of cargo – gauge, bulk, container load, full truck-load, less than-truckload, heavy, oversized hauling and rigging, specialized equipment, etc.
The company has actively participated in major regional projects, including the construction of the South Caucasus pipeline, the Shah Deniz project and SOCAR Azerikimya.
Among these large projects was the delivery of a 640-ton tree from Buknari to Shekvetili and a cafe-restaurant in Anaklia, which is located at the mouth of the Enguri river, where the river meets the Black Sea.
The fleet includes 100 vehicles of Euro 5 and Euro 6 standards and are maintained in the company’s own service shop.
With their own fleet the company transfers cargo to the South Caucasus, Central Asia and CIS countries, and carries out international transfers to any location in the world.
The company’s head office is located in Tbilisi, while other offices inside the country are in Poti, Kutaisi, Zestaponi and Batumi.
In addition, Gianti Logistics has branches in Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan.
“We have registered our branch in Tallinn, Estonia, but due to obstacles caused by the pandemic, the office is not open yet. In the future we plan to open an office in Kazakhstan,” Makhatadze said.
Q. You were talking about the increased demand for cargo transport. Can you tell us how much annual turnover has increased over the year?
A. The turnover of cargo has very noticeably increased. It is difficult to give an exact number. We can say that turnover for our company has increased by about 30%.
Q. In what direction and by what methods of transport are loads predominantly transported?
A. We are capable of transporting all types of cargo whether it is gauge, bulk, containered load, full-truck-load, or less-than-truckload, heavy, oversized hauling and rigging, specialized equipment. The diversity of our fleet (such as tilt, containerized and flatbed trailers; low loaders; multi axle hydraulic modular trailers, hydraulic jacks, sliding system and other special equipment for out of gauge/heavy lift cargo) allows us to cope with all types of challenges on land.
As for where we haul, mainly Transcaucasia, Central Asia and Turkey. Recently, we have added two more routes – European destinations and rail freight from China.
Q. What kind of cargo is transported for the most part?
A. All types of cargo, except live cattle, but mostly food prices products and heavy machinery.
Q. What impact will the Russia-Ukraine war have on your company’s activities?
A. Demand for cargo transport will definitely increase and this is already noticeable. As Russia and Iran are under sanction, only Georgia and Turkey remain carriers in the region. Therefore there is a great interest in our region and the corridor.
Q. How favorable is business Georgia today?
A. The business environment in the country is good, but when it comes to establishing a transport corridor and hub, a lot of work needs to be done in different directions because we are not logistically ready for this status.
This includes road and warehousing infrastructure, which need to be improved.
Our ports are small and not ready for a large amount of cargo. The capacity of the Caspian Sea ports and the lack of Georgian railway carriages are also a problem.
Q. Congratulations on winning the Golden Brand. Please tell us what the main success was that made an impression on the experts of the Golden Brand awards and the customers who participated in the survey.
A. This is probably due to the fact that our organization is multidisciplinary and does not have a single specific framework.
However, despite the diversity, our team treats all areas with the same professionalism and responsibility.
