Railcar-building company Dneprovagonmash JSC (DVM) plans to sell up to 100 railcars for export to Europe, businessman Sergiy Tigipko has said.
“Today we produce 80 railcars a month for the domestic market, but we have already started to produce for export… The European market is 8-9 thousand railcars a year, and we have set a goal of selling 100 railcars a month there. In terms of money, the average car is about EUR 100 thousand,” he said during the “Money for Victory” forum organized by Forbes Ukraine.
According to him, the Austrian steelmaker Voestalpine provides lighter and stronger metal for railcar construction, which is a competitive advantage in the European market.
For its part, the group is investing in the modernization of the enterprise (metal work, welding, painting) and staff training.
As reported, at the beginning of 2023, TAS Group became a strategic investor in the TransAnt GmbH railcar building joint venture of Austrian Voestalpine and ÖBB Rail Cargo with a 40% stake, and in the spring of 2024 it became the majority owner of TransAnt, increasing its stake to 61%.
In October 2023, as part of an innovative project with Austrian partners, Dniprovagonmash, a member of the TAS group, shipped the first lightweight modular freight cars (MultiBOX) for operation on the EU railways, and by the end of the year it had a full line of platform freight cars for the EU market.
According to TAS Dneprovagonmash’s financial report for 2023, this year it plans to invest UAH 100.2 million in the development of the European direction, including the purchase of equipment.
In 2023, the company produced 378 freight cars (including for the EU market), which is 34.8% less than in 2022, while sales decreased by 40.6% to 370 units.
Net income from sales of railcars and other products decreased by 2.8% to UAH 1 billion 77 million, while net profit increased slightly to UAH 49.2 million.
TAS Group was founded in 1998 by businessman Tigipko. Its business interests include the financial sector (banking and insurance) and the pharmacy sector, as well as industry, real estate, and venture capital projects.
