Meet KLINGER’s Sales Partners!
The majority of our customers have already been in contact with our sales partners: Those are the companies who support us in marketing our products and promoting our services. All of them act as resellers, providing expertise and onsite services. Still, some of them go far beyond that, and market products they diligently manufacture under the KLINGER license. In this series, we bring a few of our international sales partners out from behind the curtain – to give you an idea of the important work they do.
International sales partners mean many advantages for our customers:
- shorter delivery routes
- faster delivery
- flexibility
- local production, cutting or assembly as a sustainability measure
- reliability even in times of global supply bottlenecks
- service in the local language
Founded in 1995, Polymat’s roots go back over 20 years earlier. Co-owner Sonja Polychronova began her career in 1973 at a Bulgarian state-owned trading company, importing sealing sheets and sight glasses, which introduced her to KLINGER. This relationship has now lasted five decades. As Sonja built strong contacts across various industries, she developed a close rapport with Günter Hirsch, then KLINGER’s representative in Bulgaria. With his support, Sonja and her husband Panayot Kabadaiev founded the privately owned company Polymat.
Modest beginnings
In its early days, Polymat operated from home, traveling constantly to customer sites and building the business on the road. Thanks to their work ethic and reputation, Sonja and Panayot leveraged long-term relationships to expand the company, which continue until today. In 2017, Emil Manchevjoined as Managing Director. His management experience provided the foundation Polymat needed to navigate political and economic changes. Despite growth, the company has stayed true to its philosophy—investing in people and products. “The company has strong engineering capabilities and highly qualified staff. Our colleagues are responsible, proactive, and committed—this is our approach to building a successful company,” Sonja and Emil explain.
Scaling through complexity
Today, Polymat is a well-recognized and trusted brand in Bulgaria, supplying high-quality valves, sealing materials, level gauges, and expansion joints to industrial companies nationwide. By offering the full KLINGER product range, Polymat benefits from strong synergy, positioning itself as an approved vendor for new plant construction across multiple sectors, including the chemical industry, district heating, oil and gas, power generation, pharmaceuticals, and the food industry
The company also assembles KLINGER valves with various actuators, opening doors to participation in complex and diverse projects. Maintaining a large stock of sealing materials, valves, and spare parts give Polymat a significant competitive advantage. These strengths have enabled Polymat to successfully navigate markets affected by regional and global volatility. In the last three decades of change, the company remains committed to its founding objective: a deep understanding of customer needs combined with strong technical expertise in KLINGER products to consistently meet and exceed customers’ expectations.
