In 2007, Arad-based Astra Vagoane generated turnover worth 114m euros, while the Meva plant derived 61m euros, and Romvag 67m euros.
"This year, we expect Romvag's figure to double to 125m euros. Romvag boasts the biggest capacity of all 3 plants (...)," said Burci.
In the case of Astra Vagoane, the company's representatives have budgeted a 50% increase, to 176 million euros, and also a two-fold increase for Meva, to 113m euros.
"This year, we will operate investments in technology worth 16.5m euros in the plants," Burci added.
These plants will produce 5,600 freight carriages this year. In 2005, IRS held 2% of the global carriage production market, and was the biggest group of its type in Europe, according to IRS data, quoted in an international survey.
At each plant, Burci assembles freight carriages, and together with Servtrans (the group's shipping firm) and SMR Balas, the plants generate 80% of the entire group's turnover.
"Out of overall turnover, around 80% is derived from Romanian activities, but in the wake of acquisitions abroad this weight will change," specified Burci.
Last week, IRS entered the Serbian market by taking over, together with a strategic investor, a 49% stake in Friulexport holding. "We made this acquisition because we needed new production capacities and Serbia has a tradition in this domain," explained Burci.
"We expect the plants acquired in Serbia to post turnover worth above 100m euros in 2009," he added.
Burci chose not to specify whether he planned to enter other markets via acquisitions.
However, he will continue to count on rail transport, as he believes the sector will see further growth in the coming years.
Besides carriage production, Burci also wants to expand the shipping operations of the group. Servtrans has budgeted 58m-euro turnover for this year, up 45% year-on-year and has in its sights on domestic acquisitions to the end of cutting down locomotive and carriage maintenance costs, which hold a significant weight in transport tariffs. Besides domestic acquisitions, IRS may also buy shipping firms in the region.
"We want our transport unit, currently represented by Servtrans, to be a Balkan- based company and operate in states such as Croatia, Serbia and Macedonia. I believe there will be a lot of traffic from Macedonia to Ukraine and also Romania," specified Burci.
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