Poczta Polska prepares to lose monopoly

The Poczta Polska postal service is preparing for the full opening of the market, which will take place at the beginning of 2009. In less than three years, it will stop having a monopoly on mail delivery. Poczta Polska Deputy Director Mariusz Wnuk says that partial access for competitors is already in place. Until last year, the postal service had a monopoly on small postal packages. In view of the full opening of the market of letters and parcels, Poczta Polska is looking for other sources of income, mostly financial services. Soon there will be cash machines at postal outlets and clients will be able to receive cash loans. Bonds will also be on sale, as will investment fund units. Poczta Polska also plans to sell PZU insurance. There are 8,000 outlets of Poczta Polska in the country. It is a huge logistics machine, with thousands of vehicles and sorting facilities, where savings must be found.