Restructuring events
European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
Slovak state-owned rail company, ZSSK Cargo, has announced it will dismiss 490 workers from 1 November to 31 December 2020. Internal restructuring is attributed to the decline in the volume of transported goods of which 70% are iron ore and coal-related products. Since 2018 there has been a 30% fall in volumes transported. ZSSK Cargo operates without state subsidy and its business was negatively affected by the recession of European steel industry, ongoing decline of coal power stations in Slovakia as well as the world-wide COVID-19 crisis. Planned redundancies are a part of management's recovery plan to save the rest of jobs in the company, as far as possible. According to the chair of ZSSK Cargo board of directors, it is assumed that after completion of the restructuring the company will be profitable in 2023. According to the Slovak Minister of Transport, presently, there are no plans for the privatization of the company. Trade unions have approved the planned severance pay.
ZSSK Cargo has around 4,900 employees in Slovakia.
Eurofound (2020), ZSSK Cargo, Internal restructuring in Slovakia, factsheet number 102045, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/102045.