Latest News From Rome:
From the Budepest Sun newspaper's web site:
July 11, 2002 - Volume X, Issue 28
30 new trolley buses en route for Rome
By Tamás S Kiss
A HUNGARIAN transport manufacturing group has won a contract worth
R21 million ($20.5 million) to supply the city of Rome with a
system of 30 trolley buses.
ATAC Spa, the public transport agency of the Italian capital, has placed an order for a system of trolley buses, worth a total R54 million ($53 million), with a consortium including Hungary's Ganz Transelektro Közlekedési Rt.
Ganz Transelektro, which won the contract above four other short-listed bidders, is obliged to provide 30 low-deck trolleys by September 2003, as well as maintenance and servicing.
This was announced by Péter Székely, President of Ganz Transelektro, who said the city of Rome was currently undergoing an innovative process of integrated transport planning.
Székely said Ganz Transelektro was part of the consortium of four that would jointly provide a complete route for the buses.
István Tóth, sales director
of Ganz Transelektro, said the bodies of the 30
trolley buses would be supplied to Ganz Transelektro by Polish-based
Solaris Bus and Coach Sp. (Trollino 18s)
He said the other two members of the contract-winning consortium, Italian companies Consorzio Cooperative Costruzione and Bonciani srl, would build the overhead cable system.
Székely added that ATAC had also
said it would spend as much as R130
million ($126.5 million) on the development of the city's trolley-bus
network during the next three years.
Maurizio Sauli, CEO of Transelektro, said, "Transelektro hopes to supply 150 more trolley buses to the ATAC under future contracts during this period."
He added that this was the first time Ganz Transelektro had won an order to supply a member-state of the European Union.
Zsuzsa Szamosi, Chief Financial Officer
at Ganz Transelektro, said the
company expected the deal to be pre-financed by a consortium of
Eximbank and Hungarian commercial banks.
"Italian banks have also shown an interest in joining the consortium," she added.
Ganz Transelektro Közlekedési has also won an order for 10 trolleybuses from Tallinn, it was further announced. The Estonian capital is replacing its 100-vehicle trolley bus fleet.
In 2000 the Ganz Transelektro Group acquired electronics company Ganz Ansaldo Rt from the Italian Ansaldo Group.
Szamosi said the company had hedged losses caused by the weakening of the US dollar by switching to euros for major foreign transactions, including those in the Baltic States.
Currently Ganz Transelektro has orders worth Ft7 billion ($27 million) and expected its orders to reach Ft10 billion ($39 million) by the end of this year.
The company expected a pre-tax profit of
Ft60 million ($233,000) this year, similar to last year's, while
forecasting sales revenues at Ft3.5 billion ($14 million) as compared
to last year's Ft2.5 billion ($10 million).
