Peter Kiss, CEO of METRANS Group – We see a huge potential in Serbia and the region

METRANS, a rail subsidiary of Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG, with its recent acquisition of Adria Rail, took great steps to conquer the region of Southeast Europe.

The Adria Rail system includes three companies – the parent company Adria Rail d.o.o. Rijeka, company Adria Rail Operator d.o.o. (Croatia) and the Intermodal Transport and Services Company Adria Rail d.o.o. Indjija – the operator of the container terminal in Indjija.

With this acquisition, one of the leaders in the European intermodal transport market added the railway terminal in Indjija to its growing network. The terminal, according to the latest information, will be connected by new direct lines as early as June.

– In regards to the increasing number of requests about the expansion of METRANS activities to and from the port of Rijeka, a new regular connection between Rijeka – Budapest will be launched with the validity from June 1st, 2023. As another connection, we are glad to announce the launching of the connection between our HUB terminal in Budapest-Csepel with the terminal Indija – METRANS announced on Tuesday, May 23rd.

The company has very ambitious plans for the upcoming period, CEO of METRANS Group, Peter Kiss, said in an interview for the PlutonLogistics portal.

– In Serbia, and not only in Serbia but in the region of Southeast Europe, we see a huge potential – Kiss underlined.

PL: Why did you decide to acquire Adria Rail?

– The Adria Rail is simply the continuation of the strategy of METRANS. METRANS is currently active and operates its terminals in several European countries, and every year we bring something new for our customers, be it a strategic decision or a decision made based on the market situation.

Serbia has been in our sight for a longer time and considering we haven’t been that active in Southeastern Europe, it was clear in which direction we will expand our network next.

Adria Rail is an active player in both the Serbian market, as well as Rijeka, meaning that their activities were in line with our plans.

PL: What are the further plans of your company in Southeast Europe? What will be the focus in 2023 and the following years?

– If you take a look at the latest news and expansions of the METRANS network we have a heavy focus on Southeast Europe. We started to develop Romania, where we established a regular connection to AFLUENT, ARAD terminal. As a next step we opened a direct line between terminal HALKALI in Turkey – HUB terminal METRANS DUNAJSKA STREDA.

As the next part of our long-term plans, we are concentrating on Serbia, where in the near future we will be announcing exciting news to the market.

By all of these steps, we are giving our partners and customers the possibility of not only using our port–hinterland connections but also extended possibilities within Romania, Serbia, and Turkey.

PL: What are the current capacities of the terminal in Indjija?

– The terminal is approximately 35.000 square meters, 2 x 250m rail tracks, 2 reach stackers, 3 forklifts. Further developments are planned.

As for the services, processing of various types of intermodal units, customs office, customs warehouse, a container repair shop, and an available trucking fleet.

PL: When should Indjija be formally integrated into the METRANS network? What will this mean for your customers and what can they expect? Who will benefit the most from it?

– The integration process is already underway. METRANS developed its own IT system capable of connecting every terminal together, which comes with several automation processes helpful for container handling, processing of trains, and container storage. Terminal Indija is already adapting to this system. What will this bring to our customers is an expanded network, more possibilities in Southeastern Europe, and a faster information flow and exchange.

Customers will have the same set up e.g. in the Czech Republic, Hungary, and also in Serbia. We believe this acquisition to be beneficial for both Adria Rail, our customers, as well as countless companies located in Serbia to which the doors have been opened to the wider Europe through the METRANS network.

PL: Can you tell us something more about your future development plans when it comes to Indjija? What will be your next steps?

– It would be a little bit soon to talk about development. Firstly, we would like to have the process of integration process finalized. Afterward, once we have the full picture, we are prepared to make further investments and development.

If you take a look at other METRANS terminals, all of them had a certain scope of development. In some cases, the number of trains was increased, in others we´ve built additional portal cranes or introduced new rail connections. The same applies to Indija, or Serbia in general. Step by step we would like to expand and introduce new connections.

PL: Are you perhaps considering other acquisitions in this region?

– As mentioned, in Serbia and not only in Serbia but in the region of Southeast Europe we see a huge potential. This is also coming from our customers who are slowly pushing METRANS, and its services to this region, which makes us proud.

Well, all of these countries have their importance in our short-medium-long term focus.

There are ongoing negotiations, also for other possibilities, but this one we would like to show to the market when negotiations are finished.

PL: What were the results of METRANS in 2022? What would you point out as the most important achievements?

– From both the financial point of view and the number of transported containers we can state a positive result.

What we consider as the most important achievement, is that despite one of the biggest crises in the modern logistics world and supply chain, we’ve managed to maintain our services and even managed to expand them, the acquisition of Adria Rail being one such example. METRANS is a stable partner, with a strong fundament, for all partners, customers, and colleagues also.

New connections in Southeast Europe

Budapest-Csepel-Indija connection closely follows the connection of the port of Rijeka and Budapest, as well as the connection of the port of Rijeka with the terminal in Indija, METRANS stated.

– This connection will make it possible to connect the local market in Serbia with all destinations, be it ports in the NWC or all inland terminals that we serve in our network, which will enable transportation from/to Serbia not only for deepsea cargo but also for Intra-European transportation. Moreover, through this connection, it will be possible to supply the Serbian market with empty containers from Budapest for further shipments abroad.