AKTOR

Beginning life in the early 1960s as a general contractor for medium to large scale projects occurring within Greek territory, AKTOR would go on to expand rapidly during the subsequent decades making it one of the leading players in the Greek construction sector by the mid-1990s.

Buoyed by a combination of Greece’s economic growth between 1998 and 2007, which was in part driven by the country’s first build-operate-transfer (BOT) schemes, projects related to the 2004 Olympic Games and the significant improvements made to Greece’s infrastructure network, AKTOR would go on to amalgamate local contractors to become the largest construction company in the country.

AKTOR’s expertise extends to a number of important areas, including buildings, industrial, waste water treatment, mining and quarrying, and facility and project management. In 2012 the company’s turnover reached €904 million, while as of November 2013 its construction backlog has reached a value of 2.8 billion euros. Today AKTOR boasts a presence in 17 different countries and has over 8,000 collaborators at home and abroad.

“On the back of the experience we had gained through the realisation of countless milestone projects in Greece, the last ten years has seen the company embark on a programme of overseas expansion,” explains General Manager, John Bournazos. “The first steps in this programme saw the company establish a presence within the Balkans and the Middle East. These two remain regions within which we continue to experience strong demand, while they also provide a good foundation from which to continue growing our regional activities.”

With the company obliged to adhere to European Union policy on providing financial assistance to what it calls pre-accession countries, road, rail and metro based infrastructure projects remain the thrust of AKTOR’s activities today. Nevertheless, recent demand for renewable energy projects has seen the company establish a strong position as part of crucial solar, wind and hydroelectric schemes, while also taking on roles in the construction of waste water treatment plants and various other facility management projects.

When asked what he thinks has contributed to the company’s success, Bournazos has no hesitation in giving his option. “Without doubt our highly qualified and specialised manpower, combined with our fully owned fleet of equipment and the way we implement strict HSEQ procedures in each and every project, have contributed immeasurably to the continued advancement of AKTOR.”

It is these strengths and characteristics that have seen the company take responsibility for countless important, prestige projects that fall into the road, rail and metro infrastructure, and industrial and building project fields. Recent infrastructure projects of significance include the company’s work on several Greek road concession schemes that are transforming the country’s road networks into modern motorways following the success of the Athens Ring Road, and the expansion of sections of the metro lines in Athens and Thessaloniki.

Further afield AKTOR was also charged with the construction of the 16 kilometre long Dubai Fujairah Freeway, which included the construction of five bridges crossing over water and gas pipelines, and was involved in the finalisation of sections of Corridor X along the TransEuropean Road Network in FYROM (Macedonia) and Serbia, as well as the completion of the Tirana to Elbasan Motorway in Albania.

In Greece the fruits of AKTOR’s labour can also be seen in the form of various buildings. These include the New Acropolis Museum in Athens, a unique structure that provides testimony to both the country’s history and its modern architecture, the restoration of the iconic 19th Century Municipal Theatre in Piraeus and the construction of the Costa Navarino in Messini. This latter project involved the building of two luxury five star hotels within 1.3 million square metres of seaside landscape and the transformation of a further 200,000 square metres of surrounding area into both hard surfaces and green areas housing over 4,000 trees and 300,000 shrubs.

Internationally AKTOR was heavily involved in the building of the New Doha International Airport in Qatar, constructing the aircraft maintenance hangar, the service cargo complex, maintenance facility building, motor transport workshop and training centre, while it currently chases new opportunities in the country including Doha Metro. Meanwhile, in Abu Dhabi, the company has worked on several Phase 2 developments on behalf of Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC). These included the building of four exhibition halls, a multi-purpose hall and two multi-storey car parks.

Industrial projects brought to life by the company include waste water and water treatment plants in major cities in countries including Greece, Cyprus, Germany, Croatia, Slovenia and the UAE, as well as refineries on behalf of Lukoil in Bulgaria and EL.PE./EKO in Greece. Furthermore, AKTOR has built both underground and above ground facilities for the exploitation of polymetalic deposits within the Cassandra mines, operated by Eldorado Gold.

In addition to its obvious objective of growing as a profitable business, AKTOR has what it describes as a moral commitment towards maintaining a long-term corporate social responsibility programme. “This program involves a number of important responsibilities,” Bournazos enthuses. “These include ensuring the preservation of the cultural heritage of regions that are of particular natural beauty, participating alongside various charities, being a sponsor of sporting activities, supporting research programs and local multi-technical schools, and providing private medical insurance to all of our employees. These are just some of the things that make us a responsible and consciences member of the communities in which we operate.”

In recent years, particularly in light of the economic downturn that has affected several of its key markets, AKTOR has recognised the need to become more extrovert. It has done so by internationalising the business to the point where more than 50 percent of its turnover originates from overseas markets.

“In the coming years our strategy will pivot around several key axes,” Bournazos says. “The first will require us to galvanise our market leading position when it comes to project construction throughout Greece by not only taking on more public and private projects, but also by enhancing our input within co-financed projects. Achieving increased vertical integration will be ever more vital, while further expansion overseas is something we are aggressively pursuing not only in Europe and the Middle East, but also in North Africa and other selected territories. Last, but certainly not least, we will continue to improve our operational and managerial models in ways that will increase our production optimisation and secure sustainable development for the company for many years to come.”

www.aktor.gr

Written by Will Daynes, research by Jeff Abbott