Government program for reimbursement of expenses for Poczta Polska
“Today we signed an agreement between… Poczta Polska and the Ministry of State Assetson the basis of which the government reimburses Poczta Polska for expenses incurred in previous years,” said Jacek Bartmiński, Deputy Minister of State Assets, during Thursday's press conference. As he added, these were expenses for financing the so-called universal service, “i.e. for the availability of postal services in every commune, in every district.”
“I hope that this money will allow the Post Office to operate relatively safely, at least this year,” Bartmiński said.
Refund details
President of Poczta Polska Sebastian Mikosz reported that the refund amount is approximately PLN 750 million. “This applies to refunds for services performed in 2021 and 2022. We do not have refunds for 2023 yet. This is quite a long process, so we expect that the refund for 2023 will be in 2025,” Mikosz said. He indicated that the refund funds will be used to cover losses from 2021-2022.
“Universal service is a deficit service, so these funds allow us to cover the deficit generated in previous years,” Mikosz explained. In his opinion, these funds will allow the company to “catch some breathing space for the coming months, but above all, they will validate the sense of having the Post Office as a universal service operator.”
Plans of the Polish Post
“This is also a signal that we should prepare to submit our offer to become a universal service operator again. We will be a universal service operator until the end of 2025.” – he said. He added that the process of selecting a universal service operator will “probably” begin at the end of this year.
Universal service includes all statutory obligations imposed on the Designated Operator, related to, for example, maintaining a network of branches regardless of their profitability. The process involved in receiving by Polish Post compensation for the provision of the so-called universal service lasted from December 2022.
As the company said in a statement on Thursday, the initial payment will be made within 14 days of concluding the contract, of which: for 2021 – in the amount specified by President of the Office of Electronic Communications (UKE) the amount of loss incurred by Poczta Polska – PLN 191,985,830.84; for 2022 – in the amount specified by the President of UKE of the net cost incurred by Poczta Polska – PLN 557,157,021.18. (PAP)
author: Anna Bytniewska
