In Need of New Priorities
Private postal companies have already taken many of the orders previously handled by Poczta Polska (The Polish Post Office). They are presently intending to provide services also for banks, energy companies and government offices. As a result, Poczta Polska will soon be forced to close down a number of its branches, shorten opening hours and lay off some of its staff. One of these private postal companies has recently signed a PLN 60 million deal with a major telecommunications company, however, they are refusing to disclose the name of their new client. Poczta Polska currently enjoys a (legal) monopoly on the delivery of parcels whose weight does not exceed 50 grams. Its competitors have found a way to bypass this rule – they simply affix either small metal plates or little sacs filled with sand to the envelopes. However, Poczta Polska’s monopoly will expire in 2013.
“Poczta will have to face competition not only from Poland but also from abroad. Most likely from Germany, France and Austria,” says the CEO of InPost. Both domestic and foreign companies are planning to concentrate primarily on large cities as going nationwide does not bring as much profit. Companies that have already terminated their agreements with Poczta or are expected to do so in the near future are not dissatisfied with the quality of service but rather with the costs – they are simply too high. A spokesman of the TP Group comments that “private companies offer rates that are often even 20 percent lower than those of Poczta; our savings amount to a few million złoty yearly”. Besides, TP, Netia and mBank have recently decided to part company with Poczta in favour of private companies in order to reduce costs. The management of Poczta, after losing the courier market earlier to private postal companies, seems genuinely concerned about their mounting financial losses and the urgent need to make changes, but the company has not been able to find a permanent solution to the problems it has been facing.
Gazeta Wyborcza
