Romanian Post wants bank, insurance company, cancels EUR 440 mln of contracts

The Romanian Post plans to open a bank and an insurance company and hopes to achieve profit after posting a loss of EUR 29 million out of a turnover of EUR 327 million last year. The head of the Post, Dumitru Daniel Neagoe, met the media in one of the rare press conferences yesterday, which turned out to be also one of the shortest. In less than 15 minutes and after answering only two questions from the media, the head of the state-owned Romanian Post, who had to attend an urgent meeting afterwards, said some EUR 440 million of contracts have been canceled. The contract with G4S for money transport, which was worth EUR 350 million, the transport contract with Blue Air, some EUR 45 million and the maintenance contract with UTI Romprest, of EUR 46 million, have all been canceled, in an attempt to save money and cut the losses. Neagoe, who came to lead the Romanian Post in June 2010, said canceling these contracts is not enough to turn the company profitable, and a territorial reorganization is also needed. So far, 900 Post units have been closed and some other 450 units would also be shut down, leading to a staff reduction of 1,400. The Post also plans to open a bank which would target the rural areas in the country. “Romania is not well covered by banking services and our studies show there is room for a bank in Romania's rural areas,” said Neagoe. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: Posta Romana)