Mr. Weiler, could you present your company for the readers of our magazine?

TRM is a traditional manufacturer and developer of ductile iron pipe systems and piles for deep foundations. The company was founded in 1947 in Hall in Tyrol, Austria, so we have 69 years of experience. To our customers we are known as a problem solver for all different applications like water supply, sewerage sanitation, fire-fighting pipe systems, technical snowmaking and small hydro power plants.

What markets do you concentrate on?

Our home market is Europe, we are very strong in Austria. Certainly, we supply also Bulgaria. TRM is also active overseas – in the U.S., Korea, Japan, New Zealand, mainly for hhigh pressure application supply.

How do you see the main challenges for water and wastewater investments in South East Europe from your point of view?

In my view the main challenges will be to define the right projects. The civil engineers and designers bear high responsibility by choosing the right materials and these are for sure not the cheapest ones. I think sustainability is the key-word in order to prevent re-investments after a short period of time. Furthermore, a main challenge will be how we can cope with the instability of the governments, because this influences and could delay the implementation of the projects.

Customers should look at the lifetime of the products they choose. We are offering products with a life expectation of more than 60 years. This has well been proven throughout our long-term experience. When they do investments in the water sector they shoul choose the right materials and products in order to avoid doing reinvestments too often.

What are the projects that you have implemented in the last years and who are the main clients of your products and services?

We provided our materials and expertise for projects in the water sector in Sofia, Shumen, Novo Selo, Targoviste, and more. We are also often a sub-supplier to construction companies.
We are also a member of the Bulgarian Water Association. This is a very good forum for echange of experience.

However, TRM is not only active in Europe but also dispatches to overseas like US, Korea and Japan for high pressure applications. As we are selling directly to the customer, they benefit from the direct channel to us, the manufacturer. Moreover, TRM is also a competent partner for the water operators and waterworks, as for example the city of Vienna relies on our products for many years already.

What are your expectations for the investment priorities in Bulgaria’s Operational Program “Environment” for the period 2014-2020?

In my opinion water and sewage projects will definitely be in the focus for investments since the EU provides about 1.2 billion euros for this sector. So my expectations are high and allow a positive prediction in the mid-term point of view.

What are the main products that your company could offer for the specifics of the Bulgarian market?
TRM provides pipes and fittings in all sizes up to DN 1000 and all our range of products are certified according to Bulgarian standards. The major part of our business will be with projects for drinking water supply. We also will push our business with ductile iron piles for deep foundations in Bulgaria which looks very promising.

Your company offers very interesting solutions for water and sewage pipes. What are the main advantages of your products?

Due to our long term experience one of our major advantages is for sure that we are able to offer our clients a product which has a life expectation of more than 60 years. In addition to that, our products are easy to assemble and offer high safety. So there is nothing left causing headaches for designers, constructors and operators.

Our main material is ductile iron. It is flexible, expandible and very strong regarding internal pressure and also outside impacts. We do a lot of projects in trenchless technologies. Our pipes are ideal for this application, as it rquires a special connection system which we offer to our customers. It is also important to have a proper coating on the pipes in order to avoid damaging to the pipes while laying them.
Another core competence of TRM’s is pipe systems for technical snowmaking. Our factory is located in Tyrol, Austrie, which puts it in close proximity to a number of winter resorts. One of our main references is the Sochi Olympics for which we supplied more than 30 km of our artificial snowmaking pipes. In Bulgaria in the past we supplied to Vitosha, and we are in contact with BanskoHowever, it is not only the product what makes us successful, but also the expertise of our employees and the flexibility of our production.


Andreas Weiler was born in 1974 and graduated in Engineering Economics. After 12 years working for the Zumtobel Group, he joint TRM in 2008. In his position he is responsible for the International Sales for pipe systems. In addition to that also the development of Soft-Loan financed turnkey projects is part of his field of duty.

This interview was published in the March'2016 issue of Utilities magazine.

Portrait photo by Alexandra Koleva.