Logistics giant's link-up
The worldwide shipping whiz FedEx has launched a major move on the Polish market as it increases operations across Central and Eastern Europe.
FedEx Express has teamed-up with Polish shipper Stolica to cooperate solely in international shipments. Packages sent and received within Poland will be handled independently by Stolica.
FedEx's vice president of operations in Central and Eastern Europe, Antje Schütt-Fahrenkrog, was keen to quash any speculation that the firms would eventually merge-a tool employed by competitors like DHL and PTT to expand into the Polish market.
"We have developed a Global Service Participant formula in which we cooperate with regional partners. This does not involve financial or structural integration," she said.
FedEx has been present on the Polish market since 1989. Until now, however, the country was regarded only as a destination for FedEx's international clients, not as a departure point for shipments. That is bound to change from October 1, with four weekly flights from Warsaw to the company's main European hub in Paris.
Together with Stolica SA, FedEx hopes to cover "50 percent of the country's economy," says Schutt-Fahrenkrog. At the same time FedEx is opening offices in the Czech Republic and Hungary.
Of course the shipping whiz's development in Central and Eastern Europe won't go unnoticed by the competition, as FedEx has been the largest player in this field for years, recording a massive $17.1 billion annual turnover last year. It has the biggest cargo fleet in the world and operates 6 million shipments a day worldwide.
Focusing on the Polish market, the FedEx-Stolica cooperation may have come at the right time for Stolica SA, whose CEO, Jan Tkaczow, admits that it suffered a zł.10 million loss in 2003.
"Last year was hard on us, but we are expecting zł.4 million income in 2004," said Tkaczow, noting that Stolica managed to generate this profit independently, since benefits from the FedEx deal won't show up until 2005's turnover. Tkaczow predicts that the share of international shipments in the company's operations will rise from single figures to as much as 20 percent over the next few years. B.K.
FedEx Express has teamed-up with Polish shipper Stolica to cooperate solely in international shipments. Packages sent and received within Poland will be handled independently by Stolica.
FedEx's vice president of operations in Central and Eastern Europe, Antje Schütt-Fahrenkrog, was keen to quash any speculation that the firms would eventually merge-a tool employed by competitors like DHL and PTT to expand into the Polish market.
"We have developed a Global Service Participant formula in which we cooperate with regional partners. This does not involve financial or structural integration," she said.
FedEx has been present on the Polish market since 1989. Until now, however, the country was regarded only as a destination for FedEx's international clients, not as a departure point for shipments. That is bound to change from October 1, with four weekly flights from Warsaw to the company's main European hub in Paris.
Together with Stolica SA, FedEx hopes to cover "50 percent of the country's economy," says Schutt-Fahrenkrog. At the same time FedEx is opening offices in the Czech Republic and Hungary.
Of course the shipping whiz's development in Central and Eastern Europe won't go unnoticed by the competition, as FedEx has been the largest player in this field for years, recording a massive $17.1 billion annual turnover last year. It has the biggest cargo fleet in the world and operates 6 million shipments a day worldwide.
Focusing on the Polish market, the FedEx-Stolica cooperation may have come at the right time for Stolica SA, whose CEO, Jan Tkaczow, admits that it suffered a zł.10 million loss in 2003.
"Last year was hard on us, but we are expecting zł.4 million income in 2004," said Tkaczow, noting that Stolica managed to generate this profit independently, since benefits from the FedEx deal won't show up until 2005's turnover. Tkaczow predicts that the share of international shipments in the company's operations will rise from single figures to as much as 20 percent over the next few years. B.K.
