INTERVIEW - Croatia’s Ingra Opts for Aggressive Push Abroad, Eyes up to 380 Mln Euro in Procurement Deals in Algeria

On its biggest market abroad, Algeria, Ingra is in contention for procurement contracts potentially worth a combined 380 million euro ($564.9 million), Danko Druzijanic told SeeNews.

“Ingra has, to a large extent, managed to turn around its operations on traditional foreign markets after they were relegated to a secondary status over the last couple of years and even decades due to a number of factors like geopolitical tensions, the war in Croatia and the surge experienced by the local construction sector since 2000," Druzijanic said.

"We never completely abandoned our markets abroad, but we are now once again performing strongly in Bosnia, Iraq, Algeria and some other locations."

Zagreb-based Ingra (www.ingra.hr), founded in 1955, is active in civil engineering, power supply and telecoms equipment deployment. It has affiliate companies in Sudan, Italy, Bosnia, Macedonia and Algeria.

It has been a rough patch for builders, engineering companies and developers, and, given the large drop in nine-month earnings, it is very hard to say if Ingra would post a profit this year, the company official said.

Ingra reported a drop in its consolidated unaudited net profit to 5.138 million kuna ($1.04 million/702,000 euro) through September, compared to 58.5 million kuna net profit a year earlier.

In February, Ingra said it has signed contracts in Algeria to deliver equipment worth more than 2.4 million euro to the Saf Saf dam in Tebessa, 20 kilometres (km) west of the border with Tunisia, as well as a 5.4 million euro deal to supply equipment and works on the expansion of two ports.

The company is also involved in an ongoing tender for the construction of a military hospital in Algeria, Druzijanic said, adding that the procedure has reached its final phase.

A team of Ingra officials paid a visit to Algeria in September for a final round of talks on the 70 million euro military hospital project.

Ingra announced last week it has signed with Croatian construction company Tehnika a five-year deal for corporation in Algeria. The contract establishes a framework for business co-operation between the two companies in bidding for procurement contracts.

“We are just finalising a few minor maintenance and outfitting jobs in Iraq, and we have indications of good opportunities for more deals in that country,” Druzijanic said.

On the company's home market, a lack of government funds has put in jeopardy the completion of the construction of the highway to Dubrovnik, a major project in which Ingra is involved, Druzijanic said.

“Some 454 km from Zagreb to Vrgorac have been built so far. Approximately 30 km to Ploce will also be completed and, if the relevant decision is made, around 90 km remain to be completed to Dubrovnik,” Druzijanic said.

In Kosovo, the Croatian company is building a bridge worth 3.5 million euro while in Macedonia, it will implement a 6.9 million euro project for a road section between the towns of Stip and Strumica, Druzijanic added.

Ingra is also in a position to win another major deal in the region, this time in Bosnia where it is expecting the tender results for the construction of six hydro power plants on the river Bosna.

(1 euro=7.3191 Croatian kuna)