Since 2020, Militzer & Münch has been present with a branch in Austria. From the new office in Vienna, the three-person team is active in both operations and sales. In addition to customer-oriented solutions and first-class service, the team is particularly characterized by comprehensive know-how and many years of experience in rail and truck transport, which enables the Vienna branch to offer Austrian companies ideal access to Central Asian and Eastern European markets. In this interview, Branch Manager Nikolay Gueorguiev talks about the challenges of recent years, outstanding projects, and plans for the future.
Mr. Gueorguiev, you have almost twenty years of experience in the logistics sector. What brought you to Militzer & Münch?
I started my forwarding career in 2006 at a company specializing in rail transport as a scheduler and salesman. After a company takeover, I was appointed head of the rail transport department. In 2019, I took on a position as the authorized signatory and branch manager at a newly founded company with a focus on projects and oversized transports.
As I had had good contacts with Militzer & Münch for many years and had previously been their partner in Austria, I knew the company quite well. I therefore suggested opening a branch in Vienna for Militzer & Münch. After several discussions and meetings, I was able to convince the group of this plan.
What were the biggest challenges for your team in Vienna in the first few years?
We opened our branch in Vienna in September 2020. The first coronavirus lockdown had just come to an end in summer 2020. We assumed that everything would be over after that and things would pick up again – then the second lockdown came in November 2020, and things were even worse than in the first one. Nevertheless, we didn’t give up and fought our way through.
As we were new to the Austrian market, it was very challenging as we had not yet built up a customer base. So, during these tough times, we had to try to acquire customers. However, it was almost impossible to reach the right contacts due to forced short-time working and work from home regulations, among other things. In addition, only a few customers were open for change. Many companies were fighting for their existence. Our branch too would probably not have survived this time without the financial and moral support of the Militzer & Münch Group.
Today, we are on the right track, and I am convinced that this will also be reflected in our results. We also want to continue growing; we are planning to hire another employee this year.
What notable projects have you recently completed with Militzer & Münch in Vienna?
In spring 2024, we received an order to transport 36 combine harvesters and cutting units by rail from Poland to Uzbekistan. We first transported the cargo to Lithuania on flatbed trailers and from there on rail wagons to Tashkent. Transporting agricultural and construction machinery in multimodal transport from Europe or via Europe to Central Asia is our great strength, and we have extensive experience in this field.
We handled another interesting project for a machine manufacturer in summer 2024. We transported heavy machinery from a plant in the Czech Republic to another plant in Turkey. This involved several trucks, including two special transports with machines weighing 40 and 70 tons. In the case of the 70- ton machine, we had a total weight of over 100 tons on the road including trailer and tractor unit. Oversize transports by truck and rail are also among our strengths.
One of our customers will soon be starting a major project from Austria to Tajikistan. A power plant is being renovated in Rogun, for which we will be shipping plant components and accessories.
Which modes of transport are most in demand from your customers? Which industries are represented in your customer base?
We are known as a overland freight specialist. Our strengths are road and rail transportation and, of course, multimodal transport. As already mentioned, our customers include manufacturers of agricultural and construction machinery as well as mechanical engineering companies, but also plant manufacturers, manufacturers of rail vehicles, of power plants and of consumer goods.
