Post of Serbia - Panel held on the future of universal postal service and the Post’s reform

3/15/2023

Panel held on the future of universal postal service and the Post’s reform

At the panel "Sustainability of universal postal service in the light of digitalization", spoke Nikola Trubint, PhD, Vice President of the European Committee for Postal Regulation (CERP), Ljubomir Ostojić, Director of the Postal Services Sector (RATEL), Prof. Dragana Šarac, PhD, Faculty of Technical Sciences in Novi Sad, Prof. Nikola Knežević, PhD, Faculty of Transport and Traffic Engineering in Belgrade, and Zoran Đorđević, Acting Director of the Post of Serbia.

Zoran Đorđević said that today's exchange of expert knowledge and opinions aimed at offering ideas and solutions for the challenges ahead and answering the key question of whether all postal services should be fully digitalized. "According to the experiences and lessons learned earlier from the state of war, more recently the pandemic, the conclusion that imposes itself is that the Post should continue to provide classic services, in the existing form, which continued uninterrupted even in the conditions of war and other major security risks. The Post of Serbia will continue to be managed primarily according to the needs of our customers, and will pay special attention to the eldest among them, who have certain difficulties in adapting to the trend of general digitalization. We will help them in this, and the project that we are starting today - eWallet will enable them to make their payments safely. There are other projects with which we have already come a long way, support for e-commerce, eNotary, eArchiving, public parcel machines, now also personalized parcel machines for residential facilities and companies. We are continuing with the renewal of the vehicle fleet - Novi Sad will be fully equipped with ecological vehicles, increasing the capacity of logistics centres, improving working conditions and financial situation and incentives for employees.", said Đorđević.

The presentations of the panellists, the discussion and the conclusions of the panel are important for considering previous expert analysis of the processes initiated and those that will follow to meet the new Law on Postal Services. It was pointed out that despite the demand for rapid digitalization that directly affects the content of the universal postal service, the digitization process, as well as the universal postal service, must be commercially viable for both the state and the Post, requiring expert consideration and an optimized timeline.

The interlocutors identified as goals - the preparation of a comprehensive analysis with an emphasis on the RATEL study on the sustainability of the universal postal service, as a short-term goal, which is also a task from the Strategy for the Development of Postal Services in the RS 2021-2025; in the medium term - to incorporate professional and sustainable solutions into the Law on Postal Services; long-term - integration of the postal infrastructure into the state infrastructure, in order to precisely determine the position of the Post in state affairs.

Regarding the reform of the Post of Serbia, it was concluded that the modernized Post would be able to make a decisive contribution to the reforms in the country, especially the continuation of the digitalization process. With a comprehensive professional analysis, it was said further, it is necessary to determine the entire list of jobs and tasks that the Post can perform for the state, taking into account all the peculiarities of the needs of citizens and the economy.

It was emphasized that the development of businesses that can become part of the Universal Postal Service is a topic of the highest priority that requires multidisciplinary treatment, a special economic field, because besides the Government of Serbia, RATEL and the Post of Serbia, there are no other actors who would consider the needs of citizens, businesses and institutions. The interlocutors also touched on the irreplaceable role of the postal infrastructure during various crisis periods, such as the 1999 bombing, the covid-19 epidemic, and natural disasters, which indicates the role and importance of the sustainability of the Post as one of the factors of state stability.

The Post of Serbia today held a presentation of a new premium service for fast, easy and smart 24/7/365 delivery of postal items. Personalized Post's parcel machines intended for individual and collective housing, and personalized company parcel machines intended for business facilities, were exhibited in the premises of the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia and their use and the benefits they bring to individual and collective customers were demonstrated. For information and ordering, interested parties can contact the Post of Serbia.