Gruia Stoica and his brother Vasile Didilă own Grampet Group, the first multinational founded in Romania and the largest railway group and private logistics operator in SouthEast Europe.
“We are present in ten European countries and all of our international subsidiaries are profitable and send money to Romania. We are currently analyzing a possible entry on seven other markets: Macedonia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Belgium, and the Netherlands,” says Grampet president Gruia Stoica.
Grampet comprises 18 companies in the following fields: rail freight, logistics, construction, repair and maintenance of rolling stock, and IT services. The flagship company is the Romanian Railway Group (GFR), the largest private railway operator in Romania.
Through its factories Reva Simeria, Electroputere VFU Paşcani, Reloc Craiova and Electroputere VFU Craiova, the Grampet Group fully covers the repair requirements of all rolling stock in Romania. Also in the country, the group’s employees are preparing for the launch of new train and locomotive prototypes.
At the same time, the group is carrying out intense research and development activities, seeking technical solutions to provide customers with a transparent and real-time view of the services they use.
In 2019, when Grampet Group celebrated its 20th anniversary, it received international recognition. The Group was named “Regional Champion of the Year” at the Emerging Europe Awards at the end of June, during a ceremony that took place at the EBRD headquarters in London.
“Success is not an accident. It takes tenacity, hard work, learning from mistakes and having the power to stand up when you fall. My team and I have gone through all these stages, but this award encourages us to continue the journey. It is further proof that Romania has a huge entrepreneurial potential and I hope that we have once again shown our children that it is possible,” says the businessman.
GFR – A leader in rail transport
The Romanian Railway Group (GFR) is the flagship entity of Grampet Group, the largest private railway holding in the EU, owned by entrepreneurs Gruia Stoica and Vasile Didilă. GFR is the largest private railway operator in Romania, with a market share of 30% and a strategic position in Oil & Gas, building materials or agriculture. Currently, over 20% of the traffic is international, with GFR offering its clients complex logistics solutions.
“We would like to see a real initiative from the authorities to position Romania as a ‘regional rail player’, because we have a geographical advantage, and rail transport has a strategic role and is a major player in giant projects such as the Chinese government’s One Road, One Belt initiative or the European Union’s 2050 Rail Strategy,” Gruia Stoica says.
In 2018, Grampet-GFR took its first step towards “Silk Road”, and last year it signed an agreement to launch the Batumi/ Poti – Constanța shipping route, “the last missing link of the Middle Corridor chain,” according to the entrepreneur
