With a new plant in Serbia and the foundation of a subsidiary in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Sika is laying the foundation for further growth in Southeastern Europe.

Sika Serbia has relocated its premises from Belgrade city to a larger site in Simanovci, 20 km north-west of the capital, and built a mortar plant in addition to its existing concrete admixture production activities. With the expansion of its operations in Serbia, Sika is improving its competitive position and will be able to better serve the needs of the construction industry with a comprehensive product range. By establishing a new subsidiary in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Sika creates its own distribution and production hub to access the market directly.

Sika Serbia’s goal is to further extend its business in the construction chemicals market. The company already holds a leading position in concrete admixtures and aims to become a key player in mortars. The mortar market is expected to grow by 9% annually. With its local mortar production, Sika will be able to reduce production and logistics costs and thus significantly improve its competitive position.
Accelerated growth in the Balkan states

“The new mortar plant in Serbia and the establishment of a new Sika subsidiary in Bosnia-Herzegovina set the stage for Sika’s accelerated growth in the Balkan states,” said Paul Schuler, Sika regional manager EMEA. “Sika Serbia will become a production hub for mortars, and the new subsidiary in Bosnia-Herzegovina will unlock further potential to double our business in this market over the next three to four years.”

Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and their neighboring countries continue to be promising markets for Sika. The economy in the region is recovering from the 2012 recession and, according to the World Bank, is expected to grow at 1.9% in 2014 and 2.6% in 2015. Serbia’s and Bosnia-Herzegovina’s need to improve and upgrade their infrastructure will be a driver for the construction industry, as will be the pan-European corridor 10, a highway project connecting Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia and Greece.

Sika Serbia for example provides high-quality concrete solutions for the construction of Beska Bridge, part of the pan-European corridor between Novi Sad and Belgrade. With a length of more than two kilometers, it is not only the longest bridge construction in Serbia but the largest bridge under construction in Europe.