Polish rail freight firm boss expects turnaround by end of 2026
Boss of struggling Polish rail freight firm expects turnaround by end of 2026
17:57, 08.10.2024
DK/PK;
Boss of struggling Polish rail freight firm expects turnaround by end of 2026 Poland’s PKP Cargo, the loss-making state-controlled rail transport company, will be in the black in 2026, its acting chairman, Marcin Wojewódka, has told TVP World.
Poland’s PKP Cargo, the loss-making state-controlled rail transport company, will be in the black in 2026, its acting chairman, Marcin Wojewódka, has told TVP World.
PKP Cargo train passing through a forest in southern Poland. Photo: PAP/Michał Zieliński
PKP Cargo, a cash cow for investors after it was listed on the stock market in 2013, suffered a massive drop in profits in 2023 and 2024 as its coal transport business, the rail company’s mainstay, has dwindled.
The carrier has also lost market share and margins over the past few years to foreign freight companies.
The new board of the company, appointed by the coalition government under Donald Tusk, made massive write-offs on the value of PKP Cargo’s assets, posting an €85 million loss in the second quarter of 2024.
Wojewódka, a former board member of the Polish Social Security Service (ZUS) and an employment lawyer, has made more headlines cutting staff numbers than announcing new business.
“We have terminated the contracts of thousands of employees,” Wojewódka told reporter Aleksandra Marchewicz from TVP World’s daily business show “Business Arena”.
He said the redundancies were part of a restructuring period the company was going through to make its finances healthier and that the process would last two years.
“Hopefully, we will see better results by the end of 2026,” he said.
