Very soon, the ownership of PKP Przewozy Regionalne (PR) railway company will be conveyed to local authorities. None of the parties is very happy about this idea but Jan Tereszczuk, the CEO of PR says that every move to cut his company’s debts is a move in good direction. On the other hand, he points out that it would be much easier for if the state paid back the debts without any changes in the ownership structure.
PKP PR will have 16 owners instead of 1. All voivodships have their own ideas about how regional railways should operate. Some people believe that the company will have to be divided among 16 voivodships and privatized. Jan Tereszczuk hopes his company will not get split.
“All regions have to cooperate. Railways do not end at the border of a voivodship. There should be one center to coordinate the routes”, PKP PR head said.
Besides, the company’s assets could not be split equally among local authorities.
He assures that all 16,615 employees are necessary for the company and expects no financial problems for new owners.
“Local authorities will get a company without debts with PLN 1.4 billion (EUR 369.6m) of assets which will generate neither profits nor losses”, PKP PR CEO believed.
However, the future owners will have to invest in carriages about PLN 9 billion. Part of these expenses can be financed from EU funds.
(PLN 1 = EUR 0.263)