Garant Post- number one in Russia
Demand for GEP services is growing strongly in Russia, in particular in the Moscow and St Petersburg metropolitan areas. Not only the well-known international CEP service providers are benefiting from these developments, but national companies too.
Russia is currently one of the most interesting growth markets in Europe for express service providers too. Number one in the domestic market is Garant Post, a joint venture founded around 15 years ago by the Russian national airline Aeroflot, the French national airline Air France, the French express service provider Chronopost (a subsidiary of the French post office), Sodexi (the Air France CEP subsidiary) and a Russian bank. The Russian post office withdrew from the enterprise last year.
55% market share
In 2004 Garant Post held a 55% market share, generating sales of around USD 22 million. <> Jean-François Bouilhaguet, managing director of stakeholder Sodexi, based in Paris (France), told the ITJ.
Moscow-Sheremetyevo airport serves as the company’s national hub. Consignments are transported to and from the airport in Garant Post’s own delivery vehicles or in partner Aeroflot’s aircraft. Car components and spare car parts, above all, as well as pharmaceutical products, are flown. Around 65% of sales are accounted for by the 12 million inhabitants in the greater Moscow area. The port city of St Petersburg is responsible for a further 20 – 25%. Not only large enterprises use the services.
On account of the dynamic development of the Russian economy, an increasing number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have also become customers.
Garant Post only has a low profile in the import and export business. <> Bouilhaguet explained. DHL, a subsidiary of the German Post and based in Brussels (Belgium), is the largest player in that market segment by a long shot. DHL has been active in Russia and the states of the former Soviet Union since 1984. In this period it has been able to increase its number of customers from 100 to more than 10,000. Naturally, its profile also changed in the process. Whilst mainly diplomats and company representatives, as well as news agencies, used the service initially, international and Russian companies working in the automobile, oil and gas, hi-tech, consumer goods, chemical and pharmaceuticals industries are predominant today. Retailers and financial companies are also represented.
Staying ahead
DHL Express was able to increase cargo volumes in Russia by 30% in 2003, and income by 40%. The figures for 2004 are not available yet. The company said that it had been able to grow strongly in Russian domestic traffic above all, and thus compete with Garant Post’s leadership position. All in all, DHL transported more than 3.2 million consignments to, from and in Russia last year. Of these consignments, only 20% were documents, the rest were parcels, packages and other cargo. This fact arose not least from the merger of DHL and global forwarder Danzas.
