Russian Post denies talk of DG exit, as “information war” continues
Russian Post has denied media reports that its director general, Alexander Kiselev, has resigned. The company issued a statement today confirming that Kiselev has a contract in place running until 2014, and that it can only be cancelled by the Federal Communications Agency, “which has stated no such intentions”.
The Post suggested that opponents had been taking advantage of the formation of a new government by Vladimir Putin, after last month’s elections, to spread rumours about the state-owned organisation.
It said since the beginning of the year it had been facing an “information war” that had seen various materials and sent to the Russian media as “dark PR tools” designed to discredit the Post’s leadership as part of a “fight for control of a strategic asset of the state”.
Among recent campaigns against Russian Post, it said opponents had arranged a protest by two dozen youths bearing “obscene” placards outside the Post’s HQ, which some publications had suggested were protesting claims that 50 senior citizens had been defrauded.
Another “provocation” has seen an “ephemeral” campaign group set up to protest claims of corruption in Russian Post, the Post said. The group, “For Fair Mail” claims that Russian Post is allowing less than reputable third party loan providers to sell their financial products through post offices, but the Post insisted today that the claims were “not substantiated”.
Other “false claims” against the Russian Post management have appeared in certain parts of the press, and have led to lawsuits, the Post said.
Development
The Post today insisted that its director general was still firmly in place, and had turned around the company from a loss-making organisation into a profitable postal service over the past few years.
“Four years ago Russian Post was yielding billions in losses to the State, but independently overcame this negative trend and has become profitable, and the company now generates growing annual profits,” the Post said in a statement to the media.
“According to experts, if the current rate of development and implementation of planned measures continues at Russian Post, in the medium term it will not only maintain its lead in the postal market and strengthen its leading position in the express delivery service segment, but will also improve its cost-effectiveness five-fold while increasing capital investments.”
The Post added that in the near future, the issue of whether the Russian Government will agree to provide a multi-billion ruble investment supporting the postal modernisation programme will be resolved.
Prior to Kiselev joining Russian Post in 2009, the company made losses of 3.9bn rubles ($132m USD) and 1.47bn rubles ($50m USD) in 2007 and 2008 respectively. Kiselev’s first year saw a 480m ruble profit ($16.2m USD), while full results for 2011 are expected to show a 700m ruble ($24m USD) profit when announced.
