PKP CARGO and the Port of Gdansk at the next stage
of implementation of the Three Seas Initiative

24.07.2017

PKP CARGO SA and the Port of Gdansk Authority SA signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with Romanian railway operator CFR Marfa and the Port of Constanta. It is yet another project invigorating economic activities on the route between Northern and Southern Europe.

On 21 July 2017, PKP CARGO SA and the Port of Gdansk Authority SA signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with CFR Marfa, Romanian state rail cargo operator, and the Port of Constanta Authority. The document, previously signed by the Romanian party, opens a new stage in the development of cooperation between the parties to date in terms of logistics services in the railway corridor between the Port of Gdansk and the Port of Constanta.

"We are satisfied that the PKP CARGO Group is joining in the next stage of implementation of the Three Seas Initiative together with the Port of Gdansk. The potential of the countries of the region is not being used to the full extent today, so we are striving to ensure its development. This creates opportunities both for the Polish economy and the PKP CARGO group. We are a transit country, our east-west routes are well-developed. The time has come to take our activity forward, also on the northern-southern Europe route. I am convinced that thanks to the cooperation with the Port of Gdansk and our Romanian partners, trade - made possible also through railway connections between the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea - will intensify," said Maciej Libiszewski, President of the Board of PKP CARGO S.A.

The project is part of the political and economic Three Seas BABS (Baltic, Adriatic, Black Sea) Initiative, for which the development of railway connections operated within the European transport corridors is the key factor in the integration of the EU Member States, including in particular the countries of East-Central and Southern Europe. It is also a significant element of the progress towards achieving sustainable mobility in this region.

"The agreement is an important step forward, both in the development of the Three Seas Initiative and cooperation between the Port of Gdansk and PKP CARGO. One of the current priorities of the Port of Gdansk is cooperation on the development of railway connections in order to reach our partners and support the Polish economy even more effectively," said Lukasz Greinke, President of the Board of the Port of Gdansk Authority SA.

The logistics services offered are also supposed to constitute an alternative for customers conducting business activity in the regions of East-Central and Southeastern Europe, enabling efficient transport of goods between the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea areas. The project will be carried out in cooperation with freight forwarders from the PKP CARGO Group and the CFR Marfa Group.

Media contact:
Ryszard Jacek Wnukowski
Press Office
PKP CARGO S.A.
(+48) 663 290 110
media@pkp-cargo.eu

Agata Kupracz
Spokesperson
Port of Gdansk Authority SA
(+48) 605 640 012
agata.kupracz@portgdansk.pl

PKP CARGO S.A. is the largest rail cargo operator in Poland and the second largest in the European Union. As a Group, it offers its customers integrated logistics services, combining rail transport (the largest rolling stock fleet in Poland), road transport, and sea transport. It provides independent cargo transport services for several thousand customers in Poland, as well as the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Hungary, and Lithuania. In March 2015, the company signed an agreement on strategic cooperation with HZ Cargo, a Croatian railway operator, and in May, it took over 80 percent of the shares of Advanced World Transport, the second largest rail cargo operator in the Czech Republic.

The PKP CARGO Group has subsidiaries responsible for intermodal transport, national and international rail freight forwarding (PKP CARGO Connect), as well as rolling stock service and maintenance (PKP CARGO TABOR).

In 2016, the PKP CARGO Group reached a revenue of PLN 4.41 billion, having transported over 111 million tonnes of cargo.

On 30 October 2013, PKP CARGO debuted on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, becoming the first rail cargo operator in the EU to be listed. The value of the public offering under which PKP SA sold nearly 50 percent of PKP CARGO's shares amounted to PLN 1.42 billion. The company is currently part of the WIG30 and mWIG40 indices. PKP SA remains its main shareholder.

The PKP CARGO Group is active in the CSR field. It applies responsible HR policy standards, carries out a number of activities for the environment, and is a patron of railway technology monuments collected, among others, in the unique Rolling Stock Open-Air Museum in Chabowka.

The Port of Gdansk Authority SA is the only entity managing and administering the port in Gdansk, established as a port of fundamental importance to the national economy. The Port of Gdansk is one of the most thriving ports in the Baltic Sea, annually handling goods worth over PLN 218 billion with a volume of nearly 40 million tonnes, thus reaching an over 46-percent share in the Polish port and sea turnover market.

The Port of Gdansk is at the same time an important participant of the economic and social life of the region. For the residents, the coexistence of the city and the port involves jobs, above all - about 3,000 people work directly at the port and a few times more in its surroundings. For the country, the port is an important catalyst for economic development - for the Polish economy, its activity generates state budget receipts from duties and taxes close to 1% of the gross domestic product and 6% of the state budget revenue.