Romania plans investments in state-run postal company in next two years, prepares for market liberalization

Romania will invest in the technological and informational development of state-owned postal company Posta Romana in the next two years, said Romanian Communications Minister Valerian Vreme.

The investments will prepare the company for the liberalization of the postal services in 2013. Vreme stressed the ministry does not plan to sell its 75 percent stake in Posta Romana, adding that investment fund Fondul Proprietatea, which owns 25 percent of the company, might sell its stake to a private company.

Posta Romana, which has 35,000 employees, has witnessed a deterioration of its financial situation starting 2008, when it started losing money, on yearly increasing costs. The company, which had a gross profit of RON 34.3 million in 2007 (around EUR 8.1 million), had a loss of RON 150 million last year (the equivalent of EUR 35.7 million). The restructuring documents have mentioned the imminence of a higher loss in 2010, expected to reach RON 250 million (around EUR 59.5 million).

The company will also require investments of around EUR 113 million, out of which EUR 70 million in automated sorting centers, EUR 10 for integrated IT systems and EUR 12.5 million for printing systems. The rest will go to reorganizing its transport fleet and expanding its virtual private network. The Government believes the Romanian Post can become financial stable in 2014, when it could reach a gross profit of around RON 50 million (around EUR 11.9 million), according to previous statements.