Tag: Malta

Malta privatizes postal company

Posted by | Jul 30, 2007 | |

The Maltese government said on Monday it was privatizing Maltapost, the Maltese postal company, transferring the majority shareholding to Lombard Bank Malta and floating 40 percent of the shares on the Malta Stock Exchange.

Public Investments Minister Austin Gatt said that the bank, which already has a 35 percent stake, will buy a further 25 per cent stake for 2.4 million euros. The remaining government shareholding will then be floated.

Maltapost currently enjoys a monopoly in addressed mail items of under 50 grams and is the biggest operator in the delivery of heavier postal articles. It has post offices all over Malta.

Lombard Malta is Malta’s third largest bank but accounts for only a tiny fraction of Maltese banking business with just four branch offices.

The Maltese banking sector is dominated by HSBC Malta and Bank of Valletta, but a Portuguese bank, the Banif group, recently announced plans to involve itself heavily in Maltese retail banking.

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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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Maltapost and workers association sign collective agreement

Posted by | Jun 14, 2007 | |

A dispute between Malta Postal Workers Association and Maltapost management, which led to postal operators striking at end of May, came to an end on Wednesday with the signing of their collective agreement.

The collective agreement package was approved by the Maltapost workers both in Malta and Gozo. Proposals the management had set forward in May were deemed unacceptable by the union, leading to industrial action.

The new collective agreement includes family friendly conditions and has increased the number of allowances such extra beat allowance. Maltapost workers¡¯ salaries were also upped.

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European postal operators express caution on the liberalisation of the postal market.

Posted by | May 31, 2007 | |

As the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union are about to decide on a proposal of the European Commission to fully liberalise the European postal market in 2009, 12 postal operators, in charge of providing the universal service in their countries, express their support for the cautious approach followed in the ongoing debates.

The postal operators of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Hungary, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland and Slovakia observe with interest the caution that characterises the majority of debates in the EU Parliament on the issue of postal market liberalisation.

Over the past few months several signatory postal operators have highlighted the difficulty of identifying and implementing a financing mechanism that guarantees the continuity of the universal postal service in the event of full liberalisation of the market.

Faced with this problem, several debates in the EU Parliament called for caution and raised crucial issues such as viable financing mechanisms of the universal service, dangers of social dumping and the necessary conditions for a level playing field between market players. As a result, three European Parliamentary Committees as well the European Social and Economic Committee proposed new dates for the completion of the internal market for postal services, to be confirmed if appropriate. In the meantime, all efforts must be constructively spent to propose adequate solutions to the above mentioned points which are essential to make liberalisation possible.

The 12 signatory postal operators support a responsible approach and assert that the actual uncertainties must be addressed before the current system of financing of the universal postal service is put to an end.

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Maltapost introduces new postcodes

Posted by | Apr 9, 2007 | |

Maltapost has introduced a new alphanumeric postcode, which is made up of three letters followed by four numbers. This new postcode will compliment the restructuring of Maltapost’s distribution system and continue to enhance further the efficiencies in the system.
The three letters in the new postcode indicate the locality, and the first three digits refer to the road/or street with the last digit referring to the actual street segment.

Maltapost introduced the new postcode of each dwelling in the Christmas Card sent last December. The new postcode can now be viewed on an online directory on the Maltapost website, www.maltapost.com.

Meanwhile, letters to households and commercial establishments are being mailed in the coming weeks as reminders to clients about their new postcode. Maltapost will be also sending three postcards to each residence with the respective postcode. These cards can be sent at no postal charge to friends and relatives, informing their preferred senders with the new postcode.

In 2006 Maltapost’s service obtained a record 92% J+1 result. This means that 92% of mail was delivered by the next day which is above the regulatory standard rate. The new postcode will assist Maltapost in improving the postal service to all its clients.

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