European Commission approves 50M leva in state aid for Bulgarian Posts
The European Commission said on July 2 that it has approved 50 million leva, or about 25.5 million euro, in state aid for Bulgarian Posts, the country’s state-owned postal service operator.
In a statement, the Commission said that the funding would “enable the company to restore its long-term viability while minimising competition distortions.”
Bulgaria’s government gave the postal operator a “rescue loan” last year, which the European Commission approved in May 2023. Later, the government proposed to convert that loan into equity, which the EC has now approved.
Bulgarian Posts will separately put forward 52.5 million leva towards the restructuring plan, which aims to streamline operations, optimize the operator’s network and reduce costs, at the same time reducing the company’s reliance on the declining letter post market through new activities and services provided in post offices.
“Following our assessment, we concluded that Bulgarian Posts’ restructuring plan will ensure that the company will be viable in the long term,” EC executive vice-president in charge of competition policy Margrethe Vestager said.
“To limit any possible distortions triggered by the public support, Bulgarian Posts will provide access to its network to other operators which are active in the universal and non-universal postal services,” Vestager said.
(Photo: government.bg)
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