BRATISLAVA, December 23, (WEBNOVINY) — The board of directors of the state-run rail freight transport operator Cargo Slovakia has acknowledged the company’s business plan for next year. In line with it, the company is to lay off about one in five of its employees in 2011, which accounts for about 2,000 people of its almost 10,000-member staff. The supervisory board of the company will deal with the business plan for next year in the second half of January, informed spokesman for the cargo carrier Martin Halanda. He specified that the timetable of saving measures and job cuts has not been definitively concluded yet. “The project of optimizing employment is still underway. The time schedule and further details will be known in the second half of next January”, he said.
The staffers who will be given notice will get severance payment depending on the number of years they worked for the company, while Cargo will prepare a social program for them. Cargo will cooperate with labor offices in order to try and find jobs for its former employees. Negotiations on the collective agreement for 2011 continue in Cargo with more than ten trade union organization. Halanda however said that differences persist between demands of the trade union representatives and the business plan. He explained that Cargo cannot support proposals increasing personnel costs in the year of its recovery.
Cargo Slovakia expects to generate a loss of EUR 99.43 million this year, which is 21.2 percent more from the initially planned EUR 82.04 million. In annual terms, the loss is to shrink by 21.5 percent or EUR 27.17 million. Last year’s loss was EUR 126.6 million. The business plan of the company for next year projects an operating profit of EUR 66.97 million. Operating revenues are budgeted at EUR 378.67 million, which is 0.2 percent or EUR 820,000 below the projections for 2010. Cargo expects 2011 operating costs to drop 19.5 percent y/y to EUR 311.7 million. This is EUR 75.4 million less from this year’s estimates.
Zeleznicna Spolocnost Cargo Slovakia was established in early 2005 after the firm Zeleznicna Spolocnost split into two separate companies. Cargo took over its activities related to freight transport. Its share capital is EUR 401.65 million.
SITA
