Author: Archive

Russian and Chinese Posts start exchanging e-postal orders

Posted by | Jul 10, 2007 | |

An agreement was signed between the Russia Post, the Federal Unitary Enterprise and the Chinese Post, the Chinese Corporation.

According to the agreement, e-postal orders in the RF are to be paid in rubles, while in China in the US dollars or in yuans. At the same time the highest order should not exceed USD 1.5. The number of e-orders accepted in Russia and addressed to one client is not limited.

At present the technical base in both countries is absolutely ready to start providing the service, corresponding to the technology developed by the Worldwide Postal Alliance, the international bureau. The parties are to arrange and carry out e-orders using the mentioned technology.

The orders could be carried out between the individuals, the individuals and entities, and vice versa. Thus the money transfer is to cover all the main market segments.

The tariff for the carried out services is to be equal to the already existing tariffs for the international transfer of money: from 2% to 5% depending on the sum. The average time of transfer is from 2 to 3 days.

The Russian Post is going to sign agreements on e-orders with a number of other non-CIS countries. According to Igor Syrtsov, Russian Post Director General such agreements are to be signed with France, Israel, Turkey, and the UAE. Igor Syrtsov noted the Russian Post had already switched to the e-postal orders. The Russian Post currently carries out e-postal orders with Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Byelorussia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kirgizia, Lithuania, Moldavia and Estonia.

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TNT Post wins multi-year distribution contract with Dutch Sanoma unit

Posted by | Jul 10, 2007 | |

TNT NV’s Dutch postal unit TNT Post has signed a multi-year distribution contract with Sanoma Uitgevers, a Dutch unit of Sanoma WSOY, one of the largest consumer magazine publishers in Europe.

Financial details were not disclosed.

The contract calls for the delivery of 73 mln magazines, 800,000 parcels and 17 mln postal items per year, according to the statement.

A TNT post subsidiary will also be involved in the application of an electronic payment system for customers.

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Japan Post in talks for comprehensive tie-up with China Post

Posted by | Jul 10, 2007 | |

Japan Post is in the final stages of talks to form a comprehensive business tie-up with China Post, the Nikkei business daily reported Tuesday.

Japan Post President Yoshifumi Nishikawa was scheduled to meet his China Post counterpart Liu Andong in Beijing today with the aim of signing a memorandum of understanding on the deal, the report said in its evening edition, citing sources familiar with the matter.

If a deal is signed, it will be Japan Post’s first comprehensive alliance with a major overseas postal service provider or shipping company. The public corporation is to be privatized in October, splitting into four different entities, including a postal delivery unit.

As a first step under the planned alliance with China Post, Japan Post will increase the weight limit for its Express Mail Service — an international delivery service for letters and packages — by 10-20 kilograms from the current 30 kilograms, the Nikkei said.

It will also expand the areas of next-day delivery from Shanghai at present, to Beijing and other major cities, the daily said.

Japan Post is also considering acquiring a stake in a distribution subsidiary of China Post or creating a new joint venture for such operations, the report said.

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Courier service introduced by New Zealand Post

Posted by | Jul 10, 2007 | |

A Courier service introduced by New Zealand Post looks set to boost trans-Tasman air cargo and to increase traffic on several other routes. The new product has been developed in response to the boom in internet trading and recognizes that some customers are not in a rip-roaring hurry to receive their consignments.

Called International Economy Courier, it offers a rate discount of around 30 per cent on equivalent premium services.

Consignments from New Zealand are delivered to Australian customers in two to three days and to those in 10 other countries within a maximum of six days at the greatest geographic reach.

Studies by the Nielsen research group had shown that many parcels and documents “don’t have to be on someone’s desk in Sydney the next day,” she said. “The Nielsen research showed that many organizations — particularly exporters – would be more than happy for a parcel to take two to three days to cross the Tasman if it meant they’d make big cost savings.”

Kernot explained that New Zealand Post wanted to fill “a major hole in the market – between the low cost international mail services and the high-cost courier services offered by most international courier companies”.

A key factor in developing the economy product was, she said, the “astonishing number” of people in other countries buying products from New Zealand websites. This includes both innovative commercial traders and the hyper-active TradeMe online auction house which is now Australian-owned.

Kernot compared the NZD 53.75 (GBP 20.75) charge for a 5 kg package sent from New Zealand to Sydney using the new product with the NZD 76.79 (GBP 29.71) cost of utilizing the company’s premium product.

Other countries covered by the economy service are Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, the United States, Ireland and the UK.

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Malta: Competition in postal services sector uncertain

Posted by | Jul 10, 2007 | |

As the European Parliament prepares to vote on a draft directive for the full market opening of postal services this month, the Malta Communications Authority (MCA) told MaltaMedia that “It is still early to tell if anyone would be interested in setting up shop following liberalization” in Malta.

Recently that Transport Committee said that the deadline for remaining postal service monopolies in European Union (EU) member states, such as Maltapost in Malta, should expire by 31st December 2010, two years later than the 1st January 2009 deadline proposed by the European Commission.

The two-year postponement was a compromise to get the proposal through.

Some Members of the European Parliament had argued that in parts of the EU, more time is needed to create a stable regulatory framework for ensuring that post continues to be delivered EU-wide at an affordable cost, and to enable postal operators to adapt to new market conditions.

Full market opening should mean that national operators will no longer have a monopoly on mail below the maximum weight of 50 grams, known as the reserved area.

In this light, a spokesperson for the MCA told MaltaMedia that Malta is not “among the ‘laggards’, having rationalised its postal operation some time back.” While noting that “it is debatable whether an additional two year ‘closed-shop’ will bring about added efficiency” to post services operations, the spokesperson added that in the other sector that it regulates, it was the actual market opening that served to spur the relative operators to adapt to open market conditions.

In fact, a new operator recently entered the market providing full territorial coverage within the universal service area, specifically seeing to the delivery of summons in line with the Local Tribunals Regulations. This service already falls outside the area currently reserved for Maltapost.

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Greece sells 20 percent stake in postal bank

Posted by | Jul 10, 2007 | |

The government raised more than euro 500 million (USD 683 million) from the sale of a 20 percent stake in the Greek Postal Savings Bank as part of its 2007 privatization program, Finance Minister George Alogoskoufis said Tuesday.

With this sale, and euro 1.1 billion (USD 1.5 billion) raised following the sale of a 10.7 percent stake in Hellenic Telecommunications Organization (OTE) last month, the government is close to reaching its euro 1.7 billion (USD 2.32 billion) privatization revenue target for the year.

The privatization revenues will be used to pay down Greece’s huge public debt, estimated at 104 percent of gross domestic product, or more than euro 180 billion (USD 246 billion).

“The successful disposal of the 20 percent of the stake in Greek Postal Savings bank is an important step in the government’s privatization program,” Alogoskoufis said.

Tuesday’s sale lowered the government’s stake in the lender to 45 percent.

Shares of the Greek Postal Savings Bank ended 1.7 percent higher Tuesday at euro 18.30 (USD 25.01) at the Athens Stock Exchange.

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Germany's Sparkassen in talks with Pin Group for possible in-branch mail service

Posted by | Jul 10, 2007 | |

Germany’s Sparkassen savings banks are currently in talks with Luxembourg-based carrier service Pin AG over a possible cooperation which may include offering postal services at Sparkassen branches, reported Spiegel magazine, citing a spokesman for the DSGV, the German savings bank association.

At this point it is still open as to what form the agreement could take, but the report speculated that the DSGV might be looking into offering a service to compete against rival Deutsche Postbank AG and its parent company Deutsche Post AG, which offers customers postal services at its branches.

The report said it was also not clear whether Sparkasse or Pin AG employees would operate such a service.

Earlier this week, German media house Axel Springer AG bought a controlling share in Pin AG, raising its holding in the mail service provider to 71.6 pct from 23.5 pct.

Pin AG chief executive Guenter Thiel has said that his company plans to have a branch network as large as that of Deutsche Post’s by mid-2008.

The company handles about 2.3 mln mailings a day and expects to more than double its annual sales this year to 350 mln eur.

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