PKP Cargo rethinks long-term goals due to war and pandemic

Published on 02-02-2023 at 12:58

Tatravagónka flat wagons for PKP Cargo, source: PKP Cargo PKP Cargo

PKP Cargo has had to lower its expectations of the share it wanted to acquire on the local market. Instead of having a 65 per cent market share by the end of this year, it is now aiming for a 50 per cent market share by 2027. This is according to the local news website Parkiet.

The source mentions that PKP Cargo is currently revising its long-term strategy, which covers the period 2019-2023. By the end of the year, it should be able to present the new strategy for the period 2024-2028, and some of the main objectives will radically change.

COVID-19 and the war

In the year 2022, PKP Cargo represented a market share in Poland of 39.4 per cent, and it has not managed to increase its volumes as expected.

Dariusz Seliga, President of PKP Cargo was cited explaining the reasons for this as “the Covid-19 pandemic, and then Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and the ongoing war in that country that radically changed the macroeconomic environment in which the group operates”.

It is noteworthy that some of the other objectives, such as taking a number-one position in the Three Seas Initiative and on the New Silk Road in the EU, have remained unchanged. The Three Seas Initiative is also called the Baltic, Adriatic, and Black Sea Initiative and aims for better cooperation on the network between these seas. Poland is one of the main transit countries within this network.

Role of Poland in general

The role of Poland on the New Silk Road has somewhat changed, due to the hesitance of many companies to take the route via Belarus and Russia, that enter the EU in Poland. Currently much of the traffic is between China and Russia, while the European market has diminished. However, Poland is also used as a hub for trains from China to Russia, which then carry out a final leg back to Russia. This is because the transhipment options in Russia are not enough to meet the demand.

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