GySEV railway company to lay off 13% of workforce

Regional railway company GySEV would lay off 13% of its employees at the beginning of 2009, Népszabadság reported on Wednesday.

GySEV CEO Csaba Székely told the daily that a decline in the company's freight shipments as a result of the global financial-crisis has made the layoff of nearly 200 GySEV employees necessary.

Székely added, moreover, that the governments of both Hungary and Austria, which together own nearly 95% of GySEV, have said that they will cut 2009 funding for the regional railway.

GySEV carries an average of 7 million tons of freight and 5 million passengers per year, the paper wrote.

The state of Hungary owns 61% of GySEV, while the state of Austria owns 33.3% of the railway company and Rail Cargo Austria-unit Spedition Holding