STEADILY deteriorating market conditions for traction services in central and eastern Europe have left Retrack Slovakia and Retrack Czech on the verge of collapse despite a recent restructuring and the provision of financial support by sole shareholder VTG.
VTG acquired the remaining 40% stake in Retrack Slovakia from Rail Services Slovakia in January, becoming the sole owner of the traction service provider and its Hungarian and Czech subsidiaries.
However, despite providing “substantial financial support” to stabilise operations in recent months, VTG has confirmed that both Retrack Slovakia and Retrack Czech have applied for insolvency and that a sustainable recovery plan for both businesses is not possible. “It became clear that a long-term restructuring of the company would not be economically viable under the current circumstances,” VTG says.
“VTG has carefully evaluated all available options to ensure a legally compliant and economically responsible course of action. Unfortunately, the liquidity situation of Retrack Slovakia worsened to the point where insolvency became unavoidable. Due to financial dependency, this also affects Retrack Czech.”
Retrack Slovakia was founded by VTG after it acquired the majority of the shares of Slovak rail freight operator Carbo Rail in 2020, itself founded in 2016 following the merger of Carbosped and Rail Sped.
