International mail services to Crimea via Ukrainian Post suspended

The world’s postal administrations have been advised that they should no longer dispatch international mail addressed to the Crimea region via Ukrainian Post. The Universal Postal Union passed on a message from the national postal service of the Ukraine last week confirming that it has difficulties delivering postal items to locations in the Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.

The guidance comes following the annexation of the territory by Russia in the wake of a local referendum described by the United Nations as “invalid”.

The UPU confirmed that it passed on the message to all its members, the postal administrations of 192 countries, stating that they should suspend dispatch of international postal items addressed to the Ukrainian postal codes 95000-99999.

The UPU said Ukrainian Post would inform global postal operators about the resumption of deliveries “as soon as the situation changes”.

According to the UPU, Ukraine received about 20m letters and more than 2.5m parcels from abroad in 2012.

Commenting on the situation, UPU director general Bishar A Hussein said he hoped the parties involved would soon find an operational solution.

Via Russia

Russian Post issued a statement last month stating that it was accepting international express mail (EMS) destined for Crimean addresses, and was accepting mail from Russian customers bound for Crimean addresses at domestic Russian rates.

The state-owned Russian postal service said it was currently working on unifying the Russian and Crimean postal systems, despite the lack of international recognition of Russian claims to the territory.

Russian Post said it had contacted the UPU stating it was ready to accept and deliver EMS mail items to the Crimea and Sevastopol. The UPU did not mention Russian Post’s offer in its guidance on Ukrainian Post’s situation.

On its website, Ukrainian Post posted a warning last week that international mail rates set for letters going to the Russian Federation were not applicable for mail going to the Crimean region and Sevastopol. The company had said its 1,163 post offices on the Crimean peninsula were being “blocked” following the declaration of independence of Crimea and subsequent claim by Russia, and that as a result it had to stop receiving items being sent to the Crimea and Sevastopol.

“Interrupted”

Other postal operators around the world have been advising their customers that international mail services to the Crimean region and Sevastopol are suspended.

Deutsche Post DHL told its customers that letter mail services were interrupted, with “date of resumption as yet uncertain”, but the company said it was still delivering parcels to the area because it uses a private parcel delivery company “who confirmed that they can continue to deliver to the Crimea for the time being”.

Canada Post was also among those who told customers that it has suspended international mail services to the Crimea region. The company said mail and parcels that have already been dropped off will be held temporarily, but if there is no change to the situation in the coming days, these items will be returned to sender.

bpost International and Austrian Post are also among operators stating that their services to the Crimea are temporarily suspended.