Deutsche Post investing $250 million to expand DHL in Russia

Deutsche Post investing $250 million to expand DHL in Russia

   Deutsche Post World Net, parent company of DHL, today said it will invest $250 million over the next four years to develop its express and logistics unit’s presence in Russia.

   The German postal and logistics conglomerate said the investments will be spread across all the DHL businesses in Russia — DHL Express, DHL Freight, DHL Global Forwarding and DHL Exel Supply Chain — and will focus on infrastructure and facilities, product portfolio expansion, introducing new technology and personnel training. DHL Russia will also expand its domestic road network.

   “Russia is a very successful market for DHL and we see great prospects for the future,” said Klaus Zumwinkel, Deutsche Post World Net’s chief executive officer and chairman. “Russia is an important part of our global growth strategy. The planned investments demonstrate our confidence in the high potential of the Russian economy and the express delivery and logistics market in particular.”

   For the first quarter of 2006, Deutsche Post World Net said DHL Russia’s volumes jumped 30 percent compared to the same period in 2005, with particularly strong growth to express, air freight and supply chain shipments.

   “The Express business has shown double-digit growth both in domestic and international business. The international road and rail business of DHL Freight has doubled, and the domestic business has tripled,” Deutsche Post World Net said.