{"id":121224,"date":"2024-09-05T22:00:34","date_gmt":"2024-09-05T12:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=55870"},"modified":"2024-09-05T22:00:34","modified_gmt":"2024-09-05T12:00:34","slug":"russian-state-bank-purchases-freight-one-after-earlier-management-takeover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=121224","title":{"rendered":"Russian state bank purchases Freight One after earlier management takeover"},"content":{"rendered":"

Russian state-owned bank VTB has purchased Freight One. Earlier, the bank took over the rail freight operator\u2019s management. In February, Freight One pledged nearly 70 thousand wagons as collateral to the bank to cover for its parent company\u2019s financial obligations.<\/strong>
\n<\/span>The acquisition of Freight One by the state-controlled VTB Bank was picked up behind the scenes by journalists attending Russia\u2019s Eastern Economic Forum, according to press agency TASS. With the purchase, Russia\u2019s largest freight operator is being nationalised.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe bought it\u201d, the bank\u2019s head Andrey Kostin reportedly said. He clarified that the bank spent 200 billion rubles (2 billion euros) on the purchase, taking into consideration that the company had an outstanding debt with the bank.<\/p>\n

In early August, Russian publication Kommersant reported that the bank had taken over the company\u2019s management. VTB was reportedly not \u201cdissatisfied\u201d with the state of affairs surrounding the acquisition of Freight One by investor Aurora Invest in November 2023. As part of the acquisition, \u201cpromises were made to the parties involved and credits, including VTB.\u201d<\/p>\n

The previous parent company, Aurora Invest, did not hold on to Freight One for long. It acquired the operator in November 2023 for an estimated 220 billion rubles.<\/p>\n