CARGOUNIT gathers pace thanks to the Three Seas Fund
CARGOUNIT has leased a new Smartron locomotive to the Romanian company Unicom Tranzit. The expansion of CARGOUNIT ‘s business in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe will positively affect the development of connectivity in the Three Seas region. The company’s owner is the Three Seas Fund, one of whose tasks is the development of transport infrastructure in this part of Europe.
CARGOUNIT is the largest company in Poland and one of the key companies in Central and Eastern Europe that provide locomotive rental services. Its offer includes nearly 185 locomotives, both traction and shunting. The company’s comprehensive services are used, among others, by carriers from the fuel, chemical, construction materials and intermodal cargo industries and products for the automotive sector.
CARGOUNIT focuses on modernizing its fleet by purchasing modern locomotives and expanding into new markets. The countries of Central and Eastern Europe remain the critical area of development for CARGOUNIT. The current situation on the rail transport market in the freight segment is conducive to the development of the fleet of locomotives for rent. The demand for modern rolling stock is growing due to the need to replace older vehicles with modern ones and to redirect significant volumes of goods previously exported from Ukraine by sea to railways.
In Bucharest, the company officially handed over the new Smartron locomotive to Unicom Tranzit – the Romanian freight carrier and freight forwarder.It is adapted to work with 15 kV or 25 kV alternating current and is equipped with the PZB / LZB train protection system. The locomotive weighs approximately 83 tons and has a wheelbase of 1,435 mm. It has a power of 5.4 MW and moves at a maximum speed of 160 km / h.
– We see great potential in the locomotive rental market, both on the Polish and Romanian markets, one of the largest railway markets in Central and Eastern Europe. We are glad that our new customer Unicom Tranzit has decided to choose the rental offer of two Smartron locomotives from CARGOUNIT, which is one of the first entities offering the lease of modern locomotives on the Romanian market. We are interested in increasing the number of rented Smartron locomotives on the Romanian market and in neighbouring Bulgaria. Based on proven Siemens Mobility solutions, we are convinced that the Smartron locomotive is the right choice for local carriers looking for a modern and reliable locomotive with the highest technical efficiency – said Łukasz Boroń, President of the Management Board of CARGOUNIT LLC
The first investment of the Three Seas Fund
100% of the shares in CARGOUNIT are held by the Three Seas Fund (3SIIF). The investment in this company was the first that the Fund made in its history. 3SIIF is the economic dimension of the Three Seas Initiative, and its originator, co-founder and prominent investor is Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego. The founders of the Fund are two banks: Polish BGK and Romanian Exim Bank. The Fund invests in infrastructure projects in the Three Seas region – transport, digital technologies and energy. In addition to tightening cooperation and improving regional infrastructure, the Fund’s goal is also to bring profit to its investors. Professional and independent entities are responsible for the Fund’s investments. The resources of the Fund are complementary to public money and EU funds.
Transport is one of the three pillars in which the Fund invests. The investment demand in this sector until 2030 is EUR 290 billion (SpotData). Rolling stock development remains one of the main areas, and this need has been additionally reinforced by the geopolitical situation in this part of Europe in the last few months.
Today’s handover of this Smartron locomotive to our partners Unicom Tranzit is an important milestone in the development of the CARGOUNIT business, as we broaden our geographical reach into Romania which is a key target market for us. CARGOUNIT continues to go from strength to strength, having committed to renewing its fleet through the acquisition of in excess of 50 locomotives since the Three Seas Fund acquired the business in late 2020. We have a robust long term vision for CARGOUNIT that will see our company both maintain its market leading position in Poland and expand its activities into the wider Three Seas countries geographies, thereby contributing to the achievement of the objectives of the Three Seas Initiative Investmnent Fund. The handover of this Smartron today is a significant step in our joint journey to realise the potential of CARGOUNIT in the Three Seas region – said Cameron Cook, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of CARGOUNIT LLC.
