Lithuanian intelligent engineering solutions company FIMA has taken a major step by entering into the exciting Polish railway market. The company has acquired a 68 per cent controlling interest in Polish railway infrastructure company KZA (Krakowskie Zakłady Automatyki S.A.).
“We have implemented many railway modernisation projects in Lithuania and current possibilities to utilise our expertise and potential in this home market are limited. Implementing the company’s development strategy and seeking to use our resources and expertise efficiently, we have been evaluating opportunities for expansion in neighbouring countries.
Poland is one of the largest railway infrastructure markets in Europe. There are currently plans to invest around 16 billion Euros in Polish railways and KZA has an excellent position in the segment which is of great interest to us”, said FIMA’s CEO Gintaras Juknevičius.
KZA is one of the leading companies in the Polish railway signalling automation segment. There are 200 employees working in the company.
FIMA company owns subsidiaries in Latvia, Belarus, and Poland. More than 500 employees work for FIMA group companies.
To date, the company has actively participated in the modernisation of both Lithuania’s and Latvia’s rail infrastructure. FIMA has reconstructed traffic control, telecommunications, and power supply systems on a 108 km section within the Rail Baltica I project, implemented specialised control solutions at Lithuanian Railways’ Traffic Control Centre and performed modernisation of Liepaja railway station infrastructure, etc.
With 25 years in business, FIMA has almost two decades of experience in implementing rail modernisation projects. More than 140 specialists at the company are certified to work on rail projects. The company has participated in renovating infrastructure of approximately 400 km of the rail system and almost 100 railway stations and crossings. For railways industry FIMA provides traffic control, communications, security, power supply, passenger and staff information and points heating systems.
“The deal between FIMA and KZA will help to strengthen our business capabilities in the light of forthcoming high-value public infrastructure modernisation procurements, expand our portfolio with a wider spectrum of solutions, use both company’s specialists more efficiently and reduce business operating costs”, said Edward Jacek Kwarciak, the CEO of KZA.
The deal will open up the much larger Polish railway infrastructure market for FIMA and ensure its long-term growth prospects. There are plans to invest almost one and a half billion Euros in the railway signalling automation market alone over the next few years. The united capabilities of FIMA and KZA will enable companies to compete for a larger share of these infrastructure projects.
