Slovenia Post Chairman calls for two-phase privatisation
The chairman of Slovenia’s state-run postal service has said that the company should be privatised in two steps, with a strategic owner allowed to buy 49% of the company within seven years.
“If our proposal is approved by the government, a strategic partner will be allowed to buy 24% of the Post within two years, with the option to increase the stake to 49% after five years,” Ales Hauc told the daily Dnevnik on Monday, 27 February.
According to Hauc, the Post of Slovenia has held talks with Swiss, Austrian, Belgian, French and German postal services on a possible partnership.
He also said that the company was looking to make an acquisition of its own as part of the privatisation process. The Post has been in negotiations with the Macedonian postal service on cooperation and a possible takeover, Hauc told Dnevnik.
Hauc said the management was planning a thorough overhaul of the company to make it the leading Slovenian logistics company. He added that the company was mulling buying its own transport aircraft.
“We wish to be involved in the construction of a multi-faceted logistics centre at Maribor airport and become an integral part of the Slovenian logistics chain,” Hauc said.
Meanwhile, the chairman announced that the company would likely be shutting down some of its 595 offices around the country.
The management is currently assessing which offices are making the biggest loss. Since the Post exceeds the minimum standards for the number of offices it must operate, there is room for closures, Hauc said, adding that the closed branches would likely be replaced by mobile offices.
