Russian Govt Urges Costly Postal Upgrades
Moscow, 5 September: Russia’s Federal Postal Service requires upgrades worth 1bn dollars annually within the next three years, First Deputy Communications and IT Minister Aleksandr Kiselev told a press conference on Thursday [5 September].
He said the most urgent requirement is upgrading the service’s 17,000 vehicles. About 60 per cent of them need replacement, which results in slow service and low efficiency, Kiselev said.
He also said the service’s profitability was a mere 4 per cent last year on revenues of R22bn [696m dollars]. Of this amount, 22m dollars was invested in upgrading facilities. Kiselev said the Federal Postal Service hopes to achieve profit margins of 7 per cent in the short-term and 15 per cent in the longer term.
In order to boost profitability, the service is expected to centralize purchasing management and develop express post services, parcel trade, logistics and financial services countrywide, he said. He added that a national postal bank might be created soon.
