Russian sources in the Kremlin have confirmed to just-auto Russian Railways has addressed the issue of whether it intends to purchase a major stake in PSA Peugeot Citroen’s Gefco logistics division.
Speculation is mounting in Russia the national rail company is looking to invest up to US$1.25bn in Gefco as PSA attempts to stem the French company haemorrhaging EUR200m a month.
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“Five days ago the president of Russian Railways, Vladimir Yakunin, said to [an] agency the company is interested in buying Gefco,” a spokeswoman for President Putin’s office in Moscow told just-auto.”
Russian Railways is reported to be holding an imminent board meeting of its directors where the audacious bid could be discussed, but both the Russians and the French are holding their cards firmly to their chest.
“Our president was asked the question about Gefco and he replied,” a spokeswoman for Russian Railways told just-auto from Moscow. “That does not mean we can comment.”
PSA confirmed it was looking to offload a part of Gefco although declined to outline any timetable for the process – or if the Russian company would be a bidder. The automaker did however, note it had seen what it referred to as “rumours.
But Gefco is already dipping its toes in Russian waters with the recent announcement it had signed a major contract with General Motors for logistics in Europe and Russia.
The company inked the seven-year contract with GM to provide for the externalisation of inbound and outbound logistics – excluding the final distribution of spare parts – for the Opel, Vauxhall and Chevrolet brands.
Gefco will supply the assembly sites in Poland, Spain, the UK, Germany and Russia from European suppliers or from worldwide export ports. Gefco will then ship vehicles across the world, globally distributing around 1.2m vehicles per year.
Russian Railways is currently working on an English translation of Yakunin’s comments surrounding Gefco for just-auto.
