A new start for the Hungarian railway industry? Hungarian-made wagons to run in Egypt! – video

The Dunakeszi Járműjavító Ltd has new owners, and their goal is to modernise the company and make it the market leader in the Central-European railway industry.

Lipa Kirill, the CEO of the Transmashholding Group, which has 50 pc of the Ltd’s shares, told the Hungarian News Agency that they need an investment worth tens of millions of EUR, VG reported. He added that it depends on the contracts what they will produce and how many people they can employ. However, provided that there is a demand on the market, the number of their employees might rise steeply.

The other owner of the Dunakeszi Járműjavító Ltd is the Magyar Vagon Ltd (MA-VAG) led by Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky, who told MTI that the development of the Ltd

can add a lot to the Hungarian GDP

because it might attract further subcontractors to come to the country. 

Lipa Kirill’s Russian group is currently employing more than 100 thousand people, and Mr Kirill said that they would like to enable their Dunakeszi plant to produce not only railway wagons but also electric and diesel locomotives or subway cars. For that, they need tens of millions of EUR to improve the quality of their products and to widen their portfolio.

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He pointed out that the TMH Hungary Ltd would produce 1,300 railway wagons for the Egyptian National Railways (ENR), and the deal is worth more than 1 billion EUR. He also added that the Dunakeszi plant would make 680 of them.

The CEO said that there were a lot of speculations about the TMH saying that they bought the Dunakeszi Járműjavító Ltd only to fulfil their contract with the ENR. However, he declared that

they would like to become market leaders in Hungary and expand in the European market.

Mr Szalay-Bobrovniczky said that the railway industry has significant roots in Hungary. The Dunakeszi plant, for example, was founded in 1926, and their products still circulate in Argentina, Egypt, or New Zealand. Furthermore, the professional staff in Hungary is very good in the field. In addition, it is a global trend that more and more people turn to railways because it is fast, clean, sustainable, and offers a safe alternative for transportation.

Mr Szalay-Bobrovniczky stated that the Transmashholding Group is the fourth biggest company in the sector, which provides an

excellent opportunity for both technological and knowledge transfer.

For example, they will receive licenses, and their staff will have the opportunity to broaden their knowledge.

He also said that the management of the company is now measuring the capacities to start producing the wagons for Egypt. He added that the project already needs significant investments and creates hundreds of new jobs. 

Source: vg.hu