According to a draft amendment by the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture, the requirement to deliver mail to people’s homes five days a week would remain in place going forward. Eesti Post (Omniva) had hoped the government would ease the requirements to make it easier to reduce losses.
Last year, state-owned mail delivery company Eesti Post incurred a loss of €1.8 million from providing the universal postal service — that is, home delivery of letters and parcels. While its international parcel business is profitable, the company ended the year overall with a net loss of half a million euros.
The Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture has now sent a draft of the new Postal Act for interagency review. Among other changes, the new law aims to make the universal service less of a financial burden for Eesti Post. Currently, the service price is set by the minister and must remain affordable for consumers. Under the new proposal, Eesti Post would be allowed to propose its own pricing, provided it is approved by the Competition Authority.
Eesti Post had also hoped the ministry would ease the requirement for how frequently mail must be delivered to homes. CEO Martti Kuldma discussed the matter in early June on Vikerraadio.
“We’ve submitted our proposals to the state, but the final decision lies with the owner. From a cost perspective — whether we need to deliver five times a week or just twice — there are substantial savings to be made. In some service areas, we could be talking about cutting volume costs by up to half,” Kuldma noted.
—
Follow ERR News on Facebook, Bluesky and X and never miss an update!
Read more: ERR.EE
