Think Railways

The open two-stage public tender for the sale of 100% shares in the state-owned Croatian railway infrastructure maintenance and repairs company, Pruzne gradevine d.o.o (PG), could have the same fate as the failed privatisation of HZ Cargo. According to the local press, so far only two companies expressed interest in acquisition of PG, Austrian Swietelsky and Slovakian TSS Grade companies.

As presented in the privatisation announcement, PG is a market leader in the area of railway infrastructure in Republic of Croatia. The company has capacity to maintain and repair 150 km of railway track annually and has recently signed a four year EUR 315 million contract with the Croatian railway infrastructure management company – HŽ Infrastruktura d.o.o., for the period 2014-2017. In addition, it has a highly developed and widespread network of facilities and resources for maintenance and repairs of railway infrastructure and superstructure for the entire area of the country. PG employes 2040 employees, of which 554 employees were part time due to seasonal nature of construction works. PG's total revenues for 3Q 2013 amounted to EUR 39,4 mil.

The company HŽ Infrastruktura d.o.o. is the sole shareholder of the  Company. The sole shareholder of the company HŽ Infrastruktura d.o.o. is  the Republic of Croatia. The share capital of the Company amounts HRK 63,898,200.00, which  consists of one share held by HŽ Infrastruktura d.o.o.

The Croatian rail network consists of 2722 km of tracks. 980 km is electrified. Two transeuropean corridors pass through Croatia (X and V – sections Vb and Vc). The rail network is interconnected with rail networks of Slovenia, Hungary, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

According to the estimate by the company HŽ Infrastruktura d.o.o. – a management company for Croatian rail infrastructure, it's planned investments into the network amount to EUR 530 million, only in 2014.

Photo: Pruzne gradevine d.o.o (PG)