From ideas to implementation Utiber

fRoM IDEAs To IMPLEMEnTATIon

Due to their long history and expert knowledge Utiber has gradually become one of the largest consulting engineering firms in Hungary and gained extensive experience in the preparation and management of transportation, environmental and construction tasks. Edina Beale takes a look at the company’s most important projects and discusses its future goals and upcoming opportunities.

AT present Utiber Transport Consulting Management Ltd (Utiber Kft) is playing a leading role in a number of areas linked to construction development projects in Hungary. The company offers significant construction planning and design services as well as providing the best solutions for carrying out high quality engineering tasks, including preparation and project management. In addition, Utiber offers the entire array of activities relating to planning and project management – its specialised departments working as independent units to advise on construction technology, cost calculation, land procurement and management of public procurement.

Thanks to its diverse activities and its specialist team of experts, Utiber is able to carry out any project from the very beginning to the end – reflected by its motto ‘From ideas to implementation’. In addition to its committed permanent staff, Utiber employs special experts and sub-consultants on a contract basis. Their extensive professional background in engineering, economics, law and other disciplines ensures the implementation of projects completed to the highest quality standards, in strict observation of deadlines and at favourable costs in order to meet the requirements of clients and operators alike. This diversity of expertise enables the firm to manage civil engineering and building projects throughout the whole project cycle, from the feasibility studies until the client’s takeover of the completed facility.

Steady growth

Utiber Kft is the successor of the Transport Consulting Management Company, which was established as a state owned company on 1 January 1971. Since its privatisation in 1990, Utiber has been privately owned and has gradually developed to become a significant player in the development of road infrastructure in Hungary. The company today employs 150 people and besides its central office in Budapest it operates a network of branch offices throughout Hungary.

After the privatisation, Utiber began to extend its activities; besides road construction the company has found new opportunities in civil engineering. In recent years the procurement department

has had an increasing workload of projects relating to rail and complex transportation development and has worked on environmental development projects including flood detection, sewage systems, waste management and water systems.

The establishment of its planning and design department was a real breakthrough in the company’s history. At the beginning this office only had a few staff concentrating mainly on road infrastructure. Today it brings in three-quarters of the HUF 5–6 billion annual turnover and employs more than 100 people. Its planning services cover the full range of transportation and environmental infrastructure.

Key projects

In recent decades Utiber has worked on numerous projects, some of the most challenging of which have been the construction of the M1, M3 and M5 motorway concessions.

The company’s involvement in rail infrastructure development was an important milestone. Its most renowned project was the modernisation of the Szajol-Püspökladány rail track, covering more than 100km, and the planning preparation and permission planning of the Miskolc-Nyíregyháza railway line.

Utiber is also regularly requested to carry out strategic planning tasks at a macro-economic level. Such projects have included the long-term development planning of the national clearway and main road system and the preparation of the rail development concept – both of which have become the elements of the National Transportation Strategy in Hungary.

Foreign expansion

A few years ago Utiber began to look for opportunities in central and eastern Europe. The company soon established a subsidiary in Serbia and achieved some market success in Romania and Slovakia

too. Mr György Lakits, CEO of Utiber Ltd, discusses the company’s strategy for foreign expansion: “In Serbia our aim is to acquire the company culture that we need for establishing subsidiaries in other countries. When we achieve success in Serbia we will move to other markets. Until then we only operate as sub-contractors or join with other companies to win public procurement projects abroad; at present targeting Romania and Slovakia.”

Mr Lakits believes the firm has a stable market position and sees good future prospects: “Our aim is to maintain our market leading role and stay among the three most significant players in the domestic market. Primarily we intend to maintain our level of turnover and only expect slow growth. In the next two years we will target new sectors or look for new opportunities abroad in the market of technical control whilst expecting smaller growth in the planning segment.” n