Deutsche Post has denied that it is planning to end letter deliveries on Saturdays by scaling backto deliveries on five days a week. Chairman Klaus Zumwinkel declared: “It is absolutely clear that
nothing will change with the Saturday delivery of Deutsche Post.”He was reacting to media reports that the German postal operator was considering cutting backto five deliveries a week. He had earlier told German media that no decision had yet been takenabout continuing Saturday deliveries following full postal liberalisation in Germany from nextJanuary.
In a media briefing, Zumwinkel had described Saturday deliveries to businesses that weregenerally unoccupied as “pointless” but also said that six deliveries a week were a competitiveadvantage. Under EU regulations, the universal service provider can limit services to weekdaydeliveries.
Zumwinkel also said that he expected Deutsche Post’s remaining monopoly to expire on December31, 2007. The Deutsche Post chairman hoped an EU agreement would be found to commit other countriesto full postal liberalisation, albeit somewhat later than the 2009 date proposed by the EuropeanCommission.