Putin urges Russian Post to keep up efforts to modernise

Vladimir Putin has sent a personal message to Russian Post urging the company to continue its efforts to modernise and improve the quality and range of services. The Russian President sent congratulations to Russian Post on the occasion of its 10th anniversary last week.

In his message, he noted the rapid development of information and communication technologies, but said mail was still the most affordable means of communication for Russians no matter where they lived.

Putin said: “I am confident that based on the in-depth knowledge and great tradition of many generations of their predecessors, the team at Russian Post will continue to work productively, give priority to the modernization of the company’s infrastructure and improve the quality and range of services. It is important to keep up the momentum.”

Russian Post was formed on 5th September, 2002, as the government unified different regional postal companies into a single firm, with the aim of offering the same level of postal service quality in all of the Russian republics and territories.

Since then, the company has had a huge task to provide national postal services with a network that is heavily reliant on outdated manual processes and equipment.

Russian Post currently has around 42,000 post offices around the country, 75% of which are in rural areas, and a workforce of about 360,000 employees.

Reforms

Postal reform proposals are expected to come before Russia’s State Duma this autumn, with a view particularly towards how to finance Russian Post’s strategy for bringing itself into the modern communications age. Russian Post has said it needs government funding – or another alternative – to bring its services up to scratch.

Proposals being discussed by ministers include the ability for Russian Post to raise finance through the stock market. The reforms on the table could also include some deregulation of the private courier market, allowing private courier companies to operate without state regulation of their tariffs under a new licensing regime. The proposals would leave Russian Post as the monopoly provider for regular mail delivery.

Ministers told Russian media today that a bill should be introduced by the end of this week (15 September).