PM Group

Extracted from an article by Joe Brennan in the Sunday Times, 26.06.06
  
PM Group, the largest firm of engineers and project managers in Ireland, has been awarded a €1m assignment to create an economic development plan for the river Danube in Serbia.
The second-longest river in Europe flows through nine countries, with a fifth of its length — or 600km — running across Serbia. “This is a national asset but a severely under utilised one,” said Trevor O’Regan, who is managing the project.
 
“We’ve been asked to look at ways that the Danube can be used for development and employment opportunities. “This year should prove to be something of a watershed for Serbia,” said O’Regan. “(Slobodan) Milošević has died; the country has recognised the result of Montenegro’s recent vote for independence; and though the EU has suspended pre-membership talks to punish it for failing to extradite (war crimes suspect Ratko) Mladic, both sides are expected to eventually get back to the table.”
The consultancy assignment, which is being financed by the European Agency for Reconstruction, is expected to be completed by April of next year. It is expected that recommendations from the study could set the roadmap for €10-€15 billion being invested over the next decade or so in new projects along the Serbian stretch of the Danube. PM has set up expert groups to look at opportunities in five areas: foreign direct investment (FDI); tourism; inland waterway transport; agriculture and fisheries; and the environment.
Paul Sheane, the former chief executive of Shannon Development, will head up the team in charge of studying how the region can attract FDI. “Tourism is an area where Serbia can create low-cost jobs very quickly,” said O’Regan, noting that some Irish investors have spotted the potential.
Irish businessman Louis Maguire, who was a key figure behind the ill-fated plans for a €7 billion theme park in north Dublin three years ago, is now planning to build a €400m property resort on part of the Ratno Ostrvo island in the Danube in Belgrade.
PM, which was founded in 1973, now employs over 1,400 across its offices in Dublin, Cork, the UK and Poland. About 80% of the company’s work is based in Ireland, where its clients include Abbott, Intel, Glanbia, Wyeth and Johnson & Johnson. The Serbian project is part of chief executive Pat McGrath’s strategy to do more work abroad. Senior management own 75% of the company, with the remainder held by Foster Wheeler Corporation, the American engineering and construction contractor.

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