UPS marked its 20th anniversary of operating in Hungary with the opening of its newest logistics hub and Hungarian headquarters in Vecsés, Budapest.
The facility is located in the Airport City logistics park and is three times the size of UPS’s previous Budapest package center at over 5,200m2.
It is equipped with automated conveyor belts that can sort 3,000 packages every hour and has parking spaces for 80 cars. Around 140 employees will work in the building, which will combine small package and freight forwarding operations with UPS Hungary’s headquarters.
Nando Cesarone, UPS Europe’s president, said, “Opening this new facility is a great way to celebrate 20 years of UPS operation in Hungary,
“We are one-third of the way through UPS’s plan to invest US$2bn in UPS’s European infrastructure and this new facility will help us to continue efficiently connecting our customers in Hungary with the rest of Europe and the world.”
UPS has been in Hungary since 1989 when it partnered with In Time Ltd, and later established operations in 1997. Employing more than 350 people across seven facilities, UPS Hungary has a delivery fleet of around 80 vehicles and offers small package services, freight forwarding, supply chain solutions and healthcare logistics services.
Levente Magyar, Hungarian minister of state for economic diplomacy, attended the opening ceremony. He commented, “American investment in Hungary has been steadily increasing over the last few years thanks to companies like UPS.
“UPS was among the first companies to enter the Hungarian market and invest in a strategic sector of the economy before the transition to a market economy.”
Elsewhere, UPS has won a court challenge against the European Commission’s block of its bid for Dutch express shipping company TNT four years ago.
The Commission rejected the €5.2bn (US$5.5bn) deal in 2013, saying UPS had not offered sufficient concessions to stop concerns that the deal would hurt consumers. The deal was planned to expand its presence in Asia and Latin America.
An EU court said the Commission had infringed UPS’s rights of defense by using a different econometric model in its analysis than that used in previous exchange of views and arguments. UPS could potentially now sue for damages.
UPS released a statement, saying, “While the decision in UPS’s favor makes a number of points, the most significant part of this decision is its impact in helping to preserve a competitive environment in Europe by clarifying the procedure and relevant criteria for merger approval.”
TNT has since been bought by FedEx in a €4.4bn (US$4.6bn) deal approved by the Commission last year.
March 8, 2017