PKP CARGO is returning to the path of a European comprehensive operator – These are the words used by the Acting President of the Management Board of PKP CARGO S.A., Dr Marcin Wojewódka, to summarise the activities currently being carried out in terms of integration and coordination of the international activities of the PKP CARGO Group.
The key assumptions of the project currently being implemented by the PKP CARGO Group are the release of perceived significant revenue and cost synergies as a result of the coordination of the activities of individual foreign entities of the PKP CARGO Group, as well as the intensification of the development of foreign transport, which constitutes the second basic pillar of the Group’s development, right after the activities on the home market.
As Dr Marcin Wojewódka, Acting Chairman of the Board, points out, the process of foreign expansion of the PKP CARGO Group started already a dozen or so years ago, in the period of liberalisation of the European Union rail freight market within the framework of the so-called 2nd railway package, regulating the principles of development of the Community’s railways, including the interoperability of the trans-European rail system. We remember the great potential that opened up for PKP CARGO at that time and the company’s intensive efforts to develop foreign units and to obtain certification authorising independent execution of transport operations abroad.
The vision and aspiration to develop a comprehensive, effective international logistics operator was then fully reflected in the confidence of investors in the IPO process and the highest valuation of PKP CARGO S.A. shares observed in the following months, which was the result of the company’s stakeholders‘ excellent understanding of the market liberalisation process and the related opportunities.
The process of restructuring and sanitation of the PKP CARGO Group cannot be limited to cost reduction alone. The desired recovery of our Group involves parallel actions both in the area of revenue and costs at the level of the whole Group, where appropriate ownership supervision is of particular importance, being the place where the activities of individual entities in the Group meet and are coordinated. A similar balanced approach in the process of implementation of the PKP CARGO Group’s recovery programme is being pursued geographically, i.e. a significant part of our activities is focused on rebuilding market shares and profitability on the Polish market, with simultaneous active improvement and development of activities on foreign markets
dr Marcin Wojewódka
Acting Chairman of PKP CARGO S.A.
On the operational and business side, unfortunately it has to be admitted that the recent years have been a period of passive and inefficient policy in terms of coordination of international activities. As a result, the period of recent years has been a time when the volumes handled by the PKP CARGO Group on foreign markets did not grow, and the Group entities made little use of the so-called economies of scale.
It is worth emphasising that the volumes lost by national rail carriers from neighbouring countries to private carriers in recent years amount to tens of millions of tonnes – some of these volumes could be handled by PKP CARGO today, and I hope that this will ultimately be the case
As part of the ongoing project to integrate and coordinate international operations, we are very pleased with the attitude of our colleagues from foreign companies. In realising this project with the PKP CARGO INTERNATIONAL Group we feel a common motivation and we are already implementing operational activities which will bring revenue and cost synergies in practically all areas of our activity, including trade, transport production, rolling stock maintenance and real estate utilisation, for which I would like to thank the staff of the Czech company very much.
Ultimately, the PKP CARGO Group’s strategy for the coming years will be developed with the involvement of all the entities within the Group, which will make it possible to develop an optimum efficient model for the development of a European logistics operator, effectively competing with the largest European carriers such as DB CARGO and RCA
Dr Marcin Wojewódka
Acting Chairman of PKP CARGO S.A.
Source: press release of PKP CARGO
