The Estonian Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture has prepared a draft law that stipulates that the country’s residents will continue to receive mail five times a week, writes ERR News.
Estonian Post (Eesti Post) had hoped that the requirements would be reduced to make it easier to prevent losses. Last year, the Estonian state-owned company suffered losses of 1.8 million euros in providing general postal services – delivering letters and parcels to homes. Although the company’s international delivery service provider, Omniva, is profitable, losses last year still reached almost half a million euros.
The Estonian Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture has now submitted a draft law on postal operations for inter-agency review. Among other changes, the new law will seek to reduce the financial burden that the provision of general postal services places on Estonian Post. Currently, prices are set by the ministry and must be affordable for consumers. The bill proposes that Estonian Post will be able to set the price, but this will be approved by the Competition Council.
Estonian Post also hoped that the ministry would ease the conditions for the frequency of delivery.
The company’s CEO Martti Kuldma spoke about this in early June, giving an interview to Vikerraadio. He noted that proposals have been submitted, but the final say belongs to the state as the owner.
The ministry has not allowed the frequency of delivery to be reduced, and Estonian residents will continue to receive mail five times a week.
Sigrid Soomlais, Deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture, pointed out that it is necessary to find a balance between Estonian Post’s capabilities to make the service financially viable, and consumer expectations and their rights.
Estonian Post management hopes to achieve a loss-free operation by the end of the year. Somlais indicated that this is possible without reducing the frequency of deliveries. She said that the board is reviewing operations and has already begun implementing various measures to optimize operations, and pointed out that according to last year’s reports, the company’s turnover is 141 million euros and the board certainly has several plans to reduce expenses.
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