Earlier this year, CF&S Group opened a transit hub in Poti, Georgia, boosting its transit connections between Europe, USA, the Far East and Central Asia. Ilja Poljakov, managing director of CF&S Georgia, discusses the opening of the Poti branch and the benefits on offer for clients.
Why did you decide to open a new transit centre in Poti, Georgia?
We started offering the service in 2022 through our partners and there we faced major challenges in terms of both price and quality.
To offer our customers a high-quality service with long-term, strong customer support, we decided to set up a new transit centre ourselves. Another unfulfilled opportunity we came across was the mindset and standards of serving the clients, therefore, we decided it best to take matters into our own hands. Doing it ourselves, we can offer a standard of service that meets Western expectations and client communication that is required in today’s business environment.
What gave you the courage to open the new line of business?
The CF&S team has 27 years of experience operating terminals and transporting goods from point A to point B. Which, by the way, has been the focus of my entire career at CF&S. My team and I aim to offer a service that we would like to buy ourselves. Like ourselves, our clients expect their partner to be able to provide them with one specific and reliable contact person. Because they are familiar with the entire scope of services for the client, will also take responsibility for ensuring CF&S successfully completes what we’ve promised. This way, we can be close to the client, and be responsible for sending the client’s goods as if it were our own.
We do everything for the client – the preparation, shipment of goods, and necessary documentation, all so the client does not have to worry about the transportation process. Our clients can sleep peacefully while our team delivers. The most important change is the increase in the quality of service for the client, which is what we can offer. We use our terminal and our people to send goods, which ensures a very good value for money. It is of utmost importance that the client is happy.
What equipment is available at the Poti transit centre?
- Terminals for various types of cargo
- More than 5 ha of available storage
- Loaders from 1.5 to 5 tonnes capacity
- Reachstacker up to 45 tonnes capacity
- 150-tonne capacity crane
What service do you offer at the transit centre?
- Cargo delivery from Poti port to inland terminal
- Cargo loading and lashing on railway platforms
- Loading schemes
- Documentation
- Trucking from Poti/Batumi to Central Asia
- Container delivery to Central Asia and back
- For rail cargo delivery, we use our own platforms or enclosed wagons. Our fleet currently includes more than 400 units.
What makes your service special?
The Middle Corridor is the fastest developing trajectory, and our offered services are in high demand. We offer a completely new level of full transport service with direct connections between the West and the Caspian. Historically, other companies have not been able to provide clients with sufficient fast communication in advance. We have daily contact with the client, and they receive real-time information about the movement of their goods.
In addition, we provide transport solutions for different equipment from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan to Poti and send it on by ship or flatrack container. We do all the cargo securing ourselves, which is one of the most important components of the whole transport process.
Ilja Poljakov
Managing Director of CF&S Georgia
sales@cfs.ge
+995 5910 411 67
