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RF Government intervenes in the work of Russian post

Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich demanded that Russian Post within three days ensure the smooth functioning of the international postal exchange

The postal service collapse at airports of the Moscow aviation hub has made the Russian government intervene. Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich demanded that Russian Post within three days ensure the smooth functioning of the international postal exchange. Russian Post hopes to complete the task within a week.

The state-run company Russian Post requests the government to help it with sorting out the heaps of parcels piling up at the RF capital’s airports, writes the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper. By April 12 about 500 tonnes of international parcels piled up there awaiting customs clearance. This situation was caused by the explosive growth of e-commerce and the lack of customs officers for parcels’ clearance.

Russian Post has managed to sort out part of the postal items, but so far cannot fully cope with the problem. The leadership of the company raised the issue of total modernisation need. But it takes time, money and help from the state.

On Monday, Arkady Dvorkovich instructed CEO of Russian Post Alexander Kiselev to ensure the timely processing of international postal items at the points of their entry in Russian Federation, as well as their delivery to recipients in accordance with established standards, according to the Kommersant daily.

The Federal Customs Service (FCS) does not accept postal items because there is no place to put it, and this happens due to the fact that Russian Post does not take from the airport the already checked postal items, says a government’s analytical note prepared for Arkady Dvorkovich. The reason is that the international postal exchange office (MMPO) at 37, Varshavskoye Shosse roadway cannot receive postal items: there is a pile-up there, although postal items are forwarded for processing at the MMPO and to other cities. “The FCS actually plays no role in the collapse, because the FCS has been blocked by the checked, but undelivered international postal items. Increasing the FCS capacity will not solve the problem,” the note says.

The situation with the international postal delivery was so critical that on April 9 the Airport Moskva freighter announced a five-day embargo on the reception of international postal items at Sheremetyevo Airport, and on Wednesday said it would not unload postal items from aircraft. In this situation, the foreign postal administrations were forced to stop sending mail to addressees in Russia and are accumulating sent postal items. Taking into account that they have no storage capacity for this volume, it means that it is impossible to receive Russian mail in other countries.

The collapse associated with the fact that several hundred tonnes of international mail parcels piled up at the customs offices and airports, perhaps, was a turning point in the issue of reforming Russian Post, the Argumenty i Fakty (Arguments and Facts) newspaper writes.

In the next three months, the company should be transferred under control of the Ministry of Communications, as the Russian government has given the corresponding directions, the newspaper notes. The initiative to transfer Russian Post under control the RF Ministry of Communications was put forward by the ministry itself. It motivated the proposal by the inefficiency of the organisation’s work. “We immediately declared that Russian Post – is one of our strategic priorities, so we believe it would be right and necessary to transfer it under our direct control,” head of the ministry’s external communications department Yekaterina Osadchaya stated. And Communications Minister Nikolai Nikiforov promised that modernisation of Russian Post will make it possible to deliver mail inside the country within a week.