On June 20, Latvijas pasts received an indefinite license for the retail sale of alcohol. Inga Freiberga, the director of the company’s retail department, explains that during the emergency, when a large part of them stayed at home, the possibility of delivering food and alcoholic beverages to customers at home was considered in cooperation with one of the retailers.
About 200 post offices are closed
“Currently, the existence of the license has completely lost its relevance, and Latvijas pasts does not intend to engage in the supply of alcoholic beverages in any way,” says Freiberga.
However, it remains to be seen whether there will again be a crisis situation where postmen could put gradual bottles in their mail bags. In any case, in the future, Latvijas pasta will have an official permit to deliver spirits to your doorstep.
The situation is different with traditional postal services, which are becoming more expensive, and around 200 post offices have been closed in the last decade. In rural parishes, the closure of the only post office is a serious problem, as not everyone can spend a few hours in the middle of the working day when the postman provides services, for example, in the parish administration building.
Pension delivery can become more expensive
The fee for sending a letter in the territory of Latvia has almost doubled – since the end of last year, a stamp for one euro must now be affixed to a simple letter instead of a 57 cent stamp.
More than 77,000 pensioners receive their pensions at home by post, paying 2.39 euros, but this rate may increase. The reason for this is the increase in the cost of press delivery. Currently, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Culture have been instructed to submit proposals on priority measures and the necessary funding by 8 July.
Mārcis Vilcāns, Chairman of the Board of Latvijas pasts, explains: “Letter correspondence became more expensive on average, but there were also items that became cheaper – for some outgoing items. Our goal was difficult – at the same time to balance the tariff and find an opportunity to find some compromise. The tariffs for the letters have not changed since 2005. So that for a very long time we performed a social function very responsibly. But everything has to pay as much as it costs! ”
Preference for profit
The supply of pensions is essentially a collection service, which means security measures. Delivery prices for press publications are also rising every year. This year, publishers pay an average of 11 cents for the delivery of one edition, the rest is reimbursed by the state. This price consists of two components – 32 cents per piece, 1.36 euros per kilogram.
The Public Utilities Commission has set the minimum number of post offices in the country, in reality this number is higher. Latvijas pasts also has 62 parcel terminals throughout the country, and it is planned to increase this network, but a rural person cannot receive a pension package in the closet.
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“We cannot provide services at a loss. There are departments where the monthly turnover is below 100 euros. We are looking for other models in very low demand post offices. For example, we have created 264 postal service points where the postman is an hour a day. And in this case, too, we often hear from postmen that this hour is just a sitting down time, because no customer arrives. At the same time, we have diversified the types of delivery – to the filling stations Circle K, parcel terminals, ”says Vilcāns.
The attitude of postal management is clearly like that of a business enterprise. Vilcāns says: “Unfortunately, no law obliges us to perform a social function and never did.”
