Novotrans

Novotrans

Native name	Новотранс
Industry	cargo transportation
Founded	2004
Headquarters	Russia
Key people	Konstantin Goncharov
Number of employees	over 5000
Website	novotrans.com/en/

Novotrans Group of Companies is a large-scale Russian transportation and logistic enterprise. It provides freight railway operations using its own massive rolling stock, stevedoring operations, carriage construction and maintenance.^[1][2][3][4] The holding comprises over 30 companies in various regions of Russia and CIS with overall staff of over 5000. It is headed by the President Konstantin Goncharov.^[5][6]

The company was founded in 2004. as a railway operator for coal transportation.

In 2008, the company's own wagon maintenance depot was commissioned in the settlement of Tayturka, Irkutsk oblast; in 2009 — in Prokopyevsk, Kemerovo oblast; in 2012 — in Biysk, Altai krai; in 2013 — in Kashira, Moscow oblast.

In 2015, the Novotrans company was acquired by Konstantin Goncharov, and the Novotrans group of companies was founded.

In December 2015, the wagon maintenance company Novotrans was created, incorporating the holding's wagon maintenance capacities.

In 2018, Novotrans commenced the construction of a multipurpose marine terminal Lugaport at Ust-Luga Multimodal Complex in Ust-Luga, Leningrad oblast, in the Luga Bay of the Gulf of Finland.^[7] In January 2020, JSC Ust-Luga Company, established in 1992 to implement the Ust-Luga sea trade port project, became part of the holding. In 2023-2024, the first stage of construction facilities was commissioned, including piers 1, 2, 3 and adjacent infrastructure.

In 2019, Novotrans was assigned the general agent of Rosmorport (Russian government seaport operator) as the stevedoring company on the ferry route between Ust-Luga and Baltiysk port in Kaliningrad oblast.^[8]

At the beginning of 2020, the second stage of the Kuzbass Wagon Maintenance Enterprise (КВРП) was completed, this increased maintenance capacity to 30 thousand cars per year and made it the largest wagon maintenance institution in Russia.^[9]

Since 2012, the company has been included in the Top 15 of the INFOLine Rail Russia TOP rolling stock operator rating.^[10] In 2018-2021, the holding was included in the RBC — 500 Largest Russian Companies rating.^[11] In 2019, the Expert RA rating agency assigned JSC Holding Company Novotrans a credit rating of ruA with a stable outlook; in 2021, the rating was raised to ruA+, and in 2023, to ruAA-.^[12]

Novotrans is one of the largest private railway operators in the Russian Federation and the CIS with more than 25 thousand own universal gondola cars. The main profile is the transportation of coal, iron ore, metals, construction materials. In 2023, freight turnover amounted to 75 billion t km, the volume of transportation exceeded 29 million tons. The company's main clients are the largest metallurgical and coal mining enterprises.^[13][14]

The holding runs four wagon maintenance depots in Kashira (Moscow oblast), Prokopyevsk (Kemerovo oblast), Tayturka (Irkutsk oblast) and in Volosovo (Leningrad oblast).^[15]

Wagon maintenance facilities are situated in areas where the fleet is concentrated and are equipped with modern technological solutions. They maintain all types of rolling stock — both Novotrans' and of other operators. Scheduled repairs last no more than 3 days, which is considered the best indicator on the network.^[16] The total capacity of the facilities for scheduled repairs is over 80,000 cars per year, and for wheelset repairs — over 96,000 per year.

Since 2023, Novotrans has been developing its own railcar construction line based on the Biysk Railcar Building Plant On June 6, 2024 the Novotrans holding company and the Leningrad oblast administration signed an agreement on investments of 4.9 billion rubles in the production of hopper and gondola cars based in Volosovo, Leningrad oblast.^[17]

Lugaport is a large-scale investment project of the Novotrans Group of Companies to construct a multipurpose marine terminal in the Baltic seaport of Ust-Luga (Leningrad oblast). The terminal will handle bulk, general, grain and food cargo. Six piers will handle Panamax, New Panamax and Baby Capesize vessels.^[18] The depth at the piers is 17.5 m, cargo turnover of the terminal to reach 24.26 million tons per year.

The multi-purpose terminal will be able to receive up to 1,100 railcars per day from the Luzhskaya-Generalnaya railway station. In 2023, the first construction facilities were commissioned, including piers 1, 2, 3 and the adjacent infrastructure.

Novotrans is the general agent of the Rosmorport Federal State Unitary Enterprise at the automobile and rail ferry complex in the Baltic Ust-Luga seaport. The ferry complex provides sea freight service between the Leningrad and Kaliningrad regions without crossing the borders of other states. Year-round trips are operated on the Ust-Luga–Baltiysk–Ust-Luga route, served by the Baltiysk, Ambal, Antey, Marshal Rokossovsky and General Chernyakhovsky ferries.

Novotrans is a member of the Union of Railway Transport Operators (СОЖТ) and the Association of Railway Equipment Manufacturers (ОПЖТ).

In 2018, Novotrans founded the Novotrans-5P charity foundation. The foundation supports projects in memory of the Great Patriotic War (search teams, reburial initiatives, etc.), restores and establishes new monuments to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War. Over 6 years of work, information about more than 2,000 soldiers and commanders of the Red Army has been restored. The Novotrans-5P foundation also helps orphanages in the regions where Novotrans operates: in Buryatia, Kuzbass, and the Leningrad Region.

2023 IFRS indicators:

• taxes — RUB 11.08 billion;
• net profit — RUB 15.8 billion;
• asset value — RUB 165.7 billion;
• consolidated revenue — RUB 56.7 billion.

In 2019, the Expert RA rating agency assigned JSC Holding Company Novotrans a credit rating of ruA with a stable outlook; in 2021, the rating was raised to ruA+, and in 2023, to ruAA-.^[12]

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