The Polish infrastructure minister, Dariusz Klimczak, maintained that PKP Cargo will not go bankrupt. The company is “too important”, he says. The minister already sees improvements at the company.
“I would like to reassure all those who are worried about the PKP Cargo company. The company has no right to go bankrupt and will not go bankrupt. It is too important, the legal conditions do not allow for such a situation to occur. Quite the opposite, the company is on the right track”, Klimczak said.
The minister also stated that the company is on the right track. It has started a restructuring procedure to alleviate the financial crisis it finds itself in. Much like the new supervisory board of the company, the minister seems to blame bad management for the company’s dire situation.
“I wish PKP Cargo to be in the same financial condition as PKP Intercity. This company simply needs to be managed very well”, Klimczak said. PKP Intercity provides long-distance passenger transportation, and is financially performing better than PKP Cargo.
PKP Cargo has been spending irresponsibly
According to the minister, PKP Cargo has been spending too much money. For example, it had contracts with 64 law firms, but that number has now been reduced. It also “has its own property where it can have its headquarters, but it rents a modern, elegant building nearby, for a quarter of a million zlotys”, the minister said. “There are really many such examples.”
The minister says that he is already seeing improvement at the company, which is a turnaround from before. “Until recently, the sales department has not been working, all important tenders were lost. The competition read PKP Cargo like an open book, the company was very predictable”, the minister says.
First successes
However, “a week ago, as the authorities of PKP Cargo announced, a very important tender for the supply of coal from the mine in Bogdanka was won – 9 million tons, the value of the order is 138 million Polish zloty. I am convinced that if the company’s authorities approach subsequent tenders with such diligence, subsequent orders will prove that this company really has a very good future ahead of it. I only think about such a future and the representatives of PKP, who have 33 per cent of shares in PKP Cargo, are trying to ensure that PKP Cargo follows only this direction”, the minister concludes.