bpost CEO Dirk Tirez to “temporarily step aside” pending review
The Belgian State organized a tendering procedure with respect to the distribution of recognized newspapers and periodicals in Belgium, following which the service concessions were awarded to bpost on October 16, 2015 to provide the services from January 1, 2016 until December 31, 2020. In December 2019, the Belgian government decided to extend the service concessions until December 31, 2022. The European Commission approved the compensation granted to bpost relating to this extension of the service concessions on September 2, 2021. On March 31, 2021, the Belgian State decided to organise a public tender to award a new service concession for the distribution of newspapers and periodicals for the period 2023-2027. bpost is candidate for its own succession. The procedure is still ongoing.