Mr. Armianov, Tangra is a company well-known on the Bulgarian market, which recently celebrated its 22nd anniversary. What qualities make it a preferred partner?
Quality, price, and delivery time are the main criteria for evaluating any product or service. This also applies to our work. Apparently, we have found the right balance.
Well-trained specialists and a professional approach to every project are also of great importance. We offer a wide range of equipment for ventilation, air conditioning, and heating, many of which are manufactured in our own facilities. We keep track of global industry trends and partner with some of the best manufacturers in Europe. And perhaps, last but not least – we love what we do.
What has changed in your work from the beginning until today?
Many things have changed. At the beginning, we could only design – essentially creating an intellectual product. Later, we learned how to manufacture and install. Today, we offer a complete package in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. This means studying the client’s requirements, preparing a project, producing the necessary equipment, installing it, and commissioning it so that the client is satisfied.
Twenty-two years ago, we started with six people; today, we are 30 times that number. Currently, we have a design and engineering department, a specialized laboratory, two manufacturing facilities, installation teams, and sales centers in Sofia, Varna, and Burgas. Our products are successfully sold in over 10 European countries.
What are the latest trends in the field you work in, and what are the innovations in your product lines?
Ventilation, air conditioning, and heating systems consume an extremely large amount of energy: in winter – for heating, in summer – for cooling, and year-round – for ventilation. Energy prices have increased about fivefold over the past 10 years. Environmental pollution resulting from energy consumption is a significant problem. These are two objective factors that affect our specialty.
For more than 15 years, we have been working with energy-recovery systems. By using the heat or cold from exhausted air, we manage to reduce energy costs by up to 75%. This type of equipment requires an initial investment, but the payback period rarely exceeds 2 years. Of course, the more expensive energy becomes, the higher efficiency is pursued, and this presents a new challenge.
The second, significantly newer range of equipment is pellet (biomass) boilers. Pellets are compressed wood particles, i.e., a renewable energy source. Their combustion does not pollute the environment. The cost for the client is much lower than if heating were done with oil, electricity, or natural gas. In our boilers, we have incorporated systems that simplify operation, monitor the combustion process, and automatically clean the equipment. The client’s responsibilities are minimal.
Which are the most significant projects realized with your participation? What is the most recent current project you are working on?
It is difficult to point out just one or a few such projects. We have completed installations in dozens of hotels, including several 5-star ones. Administrative and commercial buildings with hundreds of thousands of square meters of gross floor area have our installations. In any case, I prefer that we work on industrial enterprises. A project we are currently working on, which makes me very happy, is a bakery for the company SIMID.
Among the biggest challenges in our history, I could mention the reconstruction of the filter systems at the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant, which process several million cubic meters of air per hour. The specific challenge was that we had to work within the constraints of the existing equipment, while simultaneously integrating our own components, and, not least, ensuring that they were approved by European certification authorities.
The Arco Towers multifunctional complex is the largest project we have designed. Its construction has not yet begun, but that does not change the fact that our company has developed a project for 300,000 sq. m. of gross floor area. A visit to our colleagues in Dubai during the construction of the Burj Khalifa (the tallest building in the world – 828 m) was of great importance. There, we saw how installations are actually executed in skyscrapers.
In which direction do you plan the future development of the company?
In the beginning, our main goal was to become well-known in Bulgaria. Once that became a reality, we sought to expand into markets within the Balkan Peninsula. Our current goal is to be well-known in Europe as well. We have made progress in this direction, but there is still a lot of work ahead.
