Carriage-building enterprise Dneprovagonmash JSC (DVM) plans to sell up to 100 railcars for export to Europe, businessman Serhiy Tihipko said.
“Today we produce 80 railcars per month for the domestic market, but we have already started to make and for export… The European market is 8-9 thousand railcars per year, we have set a goal of 100 railcars per month to sell there. In money, the average car is about EUR100 thousand,” he said during the forum ‘Money for Victory’ organized by Forbes Ukraine.
According to him, Austrian metallurgical company voestalpine provides lighter and stronger metal for construction of railcars, which is a competitive advantage in the European market.
In turn, the group will invest in the modernization of the plant (metal work, welding, painting) and staff training.
As reported, in early 2023, TAS Group became a strategic investor in TransAnt GmbH, a wagon-building JV of Austrian voestalpine and ÖBB Rail Cargo, with a 40% stake, and in spring 2024 became a majority shareholder of TransAnt, increasing its stake to 61%.
In October 2023, as part of an innovative project with Austrian partners, Dneprovagonmash, a member of the TAS group, shipped the first lightweight modular freight cars (MultiBOX) for operation on EU railroads, and by the end of the year it already had a full line of platform freight cars for the EU market.
According to information in TAS Dneprovagonmash’s financial statement for 2023, this year it plans to invest UAH 100.2 million in the development of the European direction, in particular for the purchase of equipment.
The company in 2023 produced 378 freight cars (including for the EU market), which is 34.8% less than in 2022, sales decreased by 40.6% to 370 units.
Net income from sales of railcars and other products decreased by 2.8% to UAH 1 bln 77 mln, net profit increased insignificantly to UAH 49.2 mln.
TAS Group was founded in 1998 by businessman Tigipko. Its business interests cover the financial sector (banking and insurance segments) and pharmacy sector, as well as industry, real estate, and venture projects.
