Iran to privatize part of its state-run postal services
The decision is in line with the government’s plan to privatize some sectors of the country’s economy based on article 44 of the Islamic Republic’s constitution, which states that the country’s economy is comprised of “private, cooperative, and government sectors.”
The official IRNA news agency reports that according to the government’s newly ratified law, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology is required to institute an “Organization of Nationalized Postal Services.”
Under the plan, “the main job of sorting, exchanges, communication and management of the distribution” of the current company will be taken over by the new postal organization and will remain in government control while the remainder of the activities of the postal service will be privatized.
According to the minister of communications and information technology, Mohammad Soleimani, the two postal companies will consist of “a parent company that will be subsidized by the government and will remain under government control and a private company, which will offer various postal services at private market rates.”
The existing Iran Postal Service Company, which employs 16,000 people and handles three million parcels per day, is currently running a deficit. According to the law, the shares of companies in deficit cannot be floated on the country’s stock exchange known as the Bourse.
