The Polish state-owned rail freight operator PKP Cargo has recently started restructuring proceedings to get out of a drastically negative financial position. The whole process is expected to last between one and a half and two years, according to Marcin Wojewódka, the company’s Acting President.
PKP Cargo filed a request to start restructuring with the District Court for the Capital City of Warsaw at the beginning of July. Last week, the court opened the procedure, with a conclusion now expected somewhere between February and August 2026. Wojewódka also underlined that the company will not be put on sale.
How did PKP Cargo get here?
PKP Cargo’s debt is assessed at roughly 1,17 billion euros (five billion PLN). The main cause leading up to this point, according to the current company management, is to identified in the years of mismanagement between 2015 and 2023. Throughout this time, the company dropped both in performance and volumes.
Moreover, between July and October 2022, the Polish government forced PKP Cargo to prioritise coal transport, giving up various other contracts and damaging the company’s flexibility. Last week, the company appealed to the government asking for financial compensation in lieu of the damage caused by this policy.
Amidst this turbulence, a massive portion of PKP Cargo’s workforce seems to have drawn the shortest straw. One-third of them (over 4,000 people) will be fired, another third has been placed in inactive status for at least one year, and over 1,000 of the remaining employees have been transferred to other Polish rail companies.