News

LTG Cargo Ukraine changes its business: will focus on rolling stock lease services

LTG Cargo Ukraine, a subsidiary of the LTG Group’s freight transport company LTG Cargo, is changing its business model: previously providing freight forwarding services, from September LTG Cargo Ukraine will focus on rolling stock lease services, including wagons and locomotives.

“We established LTG Cargo Ukraine with the aim of strengthening the logistics and supply chains between Lithuania and Ukraine. There are almost 500 Lithuanian wagons in Ukraine, and by transferring them to LTG Cargo Ukraine, we will ensure their effective utilization by leasing them to customers. Railways remain an extremely important supply line for a country at war, there is a need for rolling stock, and in the future, we will also contribute to the reconstruction of Ukraine in this way,” says Eglė Šimė, CEO of LTG Cargo.

According to E. Šimė, the war that began in 2022 slowed down the implementation of LTG Cargo Ukraine’s strategy, but later the company made a significant contribution to establishing new logistics chains: when cargo was stuck on the roads at the Polish border, some of it was quickly transported by rail, new routes were created for grain transportation, and broad gauge (1520 mm) wagons were transported between the Baltic countries and Ukraine via Poland.

“At the beginning of the war in Ukraine, freight traffic fell by half – from 314 million tonnes in 2021 to 151 million tonnes in 2022 – but in recent years it has been gradually increasing. The industry in the country has adapted and is operating, so rolling stock is needed for freight transport and work at terminals. Most of the wagons we plan to lease are covered wagons, which can be used to transport various cargoes, from construction materials to food products, and platforms for transporting containers,” says Saulius Stasiūnas, head of LTG Cargo Ukraine.

There are plans to lease and transport two ChME3 shunting locomotives, which have been modernized at the LTG Cargo locomotive repair depot in Vilnius, to Ukraine in the fall. Shunting locomotives are designed for transporting and shunting wagons at stations, industrial enterprises, and other areas with limited movement where wagons need to be moved to different railway lines. These locomotives will most likely be leased for work at private terminals.

The rolling stock fleet leased by LTG Cargo Ukraine will expand in the future so that the company can offer solutions that best meet the needs of Ukrainian businesses. Within two years, LTG Cargo Ukraine will be entrusted with the efficient use of another 120 wagons, and the company’s fleet is expected to be supplemented with 2M62K mainline locomotives. With the arrival of new electric locomotives manufactured specifically for transport in Lithuania, LTG Cargo Ukraine’s fleet could also be supplemented with diesel locomotives „Siemens“.

This year, LTG Cargo Ukraine became a member of the European Business Association operating in Ukraine, and the company was also included in the list of reliable taxpayers in Ukraine. It is also important to note that the portfolio of LTG Cargo Ukraine’s customers, who have so far received freight forwarding services, is managed by LTG Cargo Polska, a rail transport company based in Poland.