The minister said the restructuring process will entail the scrapping of seven branch offices of the post office, 146 management positions and 454 sub-units. He said this is the biggest restructuring process in the company’s history and the operator plans to develop a strong sales force.
“There have been cases when, to make a decision, a document was signed by 27 people. You can’t be efficient with such a structure. After restructuring, decisions will be made in one place, procedures will be simples and we’ll eliminate money-leaking weak links,” said Vreme.
The minister said analyses have shown the postal company will save up to RON50 million a year in costs and the company’s revenue would not be affected.
“We need to get Posta Romana ready for January 1, 2013, when the postal services market is liberalized. That will be the moment of truth for the state-owned postal company,” said the minister.
Posta Romana is Romania’s biggest postal service company and has a network of 7,100 local offices. The company employs 34,200 people, of which over 11,000 are mail carriers. The company is expected to lower its staff numbers to 32,663 by the end of the year.
The minister added restructuring is set to start as soon as the Government approves a bill in this respect, which will likely be discussed next week.
The Communications Ministry also wants Posta Romana to set up a bank and an insurance broker, operations which would enable it to better utilize its network and earn additional income. Vreme estimated the insurance brokerage company would become operational in two to three months, while the bank would be operational in 12 months.
The Government promised the International Monetary Fund that it will cut at least 70 administrative positions in the postal service and close more than 900 units by the end of June. This process will affect around 2000 employees, 6% of the company’s staff; a part of them will be laid off.
Posta Romana will also send its employees on two days unpaid leave each month starting June 1, until the end of the year, hoping to cut its monthly expenses by RON7 million.
Posta Romana is 75% owned by the state, through the Ministry of Communications, and 25% owned by investment fund Fondul Proprietatea. In 2011, the postal company expects total revenues of RON1.51 billion, from RON1.4 billion in 2010, and a pre-tax profit of RON2.34 million.
(EUR1=RON4.2291)