The new head of Russian Post, Andrej Kazmin, has unveiled a package of measures to modernise thevast postal service and make it more competitive following increased losses last year. But
privatisation is not on the agenda.Priorities will be to offer a wide range of services, to improve the profitability andquality of mail services, to expand financial services and to modernise the IT and infrastructure,Kazmin said at a two-day high-level meeting of the Russian Ministry of Communications andInformation Technologies earlier this month.
“Russian Post has developed its infrastructure. The enterprise is setting up modernequipment. Our goal is to increase the profits of the enterprise,” he said.
Russian Post said it increased mail volumes by 14% and parcel volumes by 25% last year. ItsEMS express shipment volumes increased 42% in comparison with express market growth of 37%. Thecompany’s 2007 revenues increased by 23% due to the higher volumes. However, Russian Post ended2007 with a loss of RUB 5.8 billion (EUR 158.94 million) compared to a RUB 4 billion deficit (EUR109.61 million) in 2006.
Among the main reasons for the losses Kazmin mentioned were problems with Russianlegislation, higher expenses for the labour compensation funds, socially oriented but loss makingservices like publicly accessible postal services, and delivery of pensions, grants andperiodicals.
According to Kazmin, Russian Post’s main goals for 2008 include improving the enterprise’seconomic efficiency, providing standard delivery of correspondence and freight to and from any partof the Russian Federation at available tariff rates, establishing modern infrastructure anddeveloping financial services within the postal service system.
In terms of the growth factors and prospects for this year, IT is seen as an important factorfor the development of postal services. In 2007, Russian Post extended computer technology with a35% rise in the number of terminals at post offices. In addition, it opened over 3,000 Internetpublic access outlets increasing their total number to 23,000, the Russian Post said.
Kazmin said it was necessary to keep a balance between the postal service’s businessactivities and its social functions. He called for Russian Post to become a state-owned enterprisein order to achieve its aims.
Russian IT and Communications Minister Leonid Reyman told journalists that Russian Post is toremain state-owned, but it was yet to be decided whether Russian Post needed to be converted into astate corporation or into a joint-stock company fully controlled by the government.
Commenting on the possible deregulation of the postal sector, Reyman noted that ifprivate-owned companies were allowed access to the market, it was necessary to ensure that RussianPost did not become an operator of its least efficient segments.
