Russian Post

Russian Post is the national postal operator of the Russian Federation. Its activities include the collection, sorting, transport and delivery of domestic and international correspondence, parcels and express items, as well as the issue and distribution of postage stamps. Through its extensive branch network, the organization also performs public-service and retail functions, including the delivery of pensions and social payments, newspaper and magazine subscriptions, money transfers and selected financial services. It operates one of the country’s most geographically extensive service infrastructures, with headquarters in Moscow and a network historically numbering more than 42,000 post offices. The modern enterprise was created during the post-Soviet restructuring of Russia’s postal system. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, postal operations were divided among numerous regional and republican entities that lacked unified planning, budgeting and information systems. On June 28, 2002, the Russian government approved a restructuring concept intended to consolidate these organizations into a single state-controlled enterprise. Russian Post was established by government decree on September 5, 2002; its charter was approved in February 2003 and its state registration was completed on February 13, 2003. Subsequent consolidation absorbed regional postal administrations and related technical and international-mail organizations. The organization inherited a long postal tradition. Russian messenger networks are documented from the medieval period, while a more standardized state postal system developed under Peter the Great in the early eighteenth century. Russia opened general post offices in Saint Petersburg and Moscow in 1714, expanded regular routes and field-post arrangements, introduced postal coaches and urban collection systems during the nineteenth century, and issued its first postage stamps in 1857. Russia was also a founding member of the Universal Postal Union in 1874. Postal operations continued through the Imperial, Soviet and Russian Federation periods, although their administrative structures changed repeatedly. Russian Post faced significant operational pressure during the early 2010s. The rapid growth of cross-border e-commerce sharply increased the number of incoming parcels, while airport customs facilities, international exchange offices and sorting infrastructure struggled to process the additional volume. Public complaints about delays intensified in 2012 and 2013. In response, the government moved the enterprise’s direct administrative supervision from the Federal Communications Agency to the Ministry of Communications and Mass Media, and new management pursued automation, capacity expansion, regional exchange centers, improved international pre-sorting and stronger parcel logistics. The company also expanded air links serving remote regions, including the Russian Far East and Yakutia. Russian Post is a strategic state enterprise. It has historically combined commercial goals with universal-service obligations, meaning that the organization must maintain access and delivery across a very large territory, including areas where individual branches may not be profitable. Its modernization agenda has therefore centered on network consolidation, automated sorting, digital customer services, parcel growth and the development of adjacent financial and retail offerings. Russian Post also owns 49.99% of Pochta Bank, formerly known as Leto-Bank. Postal services in Crimea have been handled by a separate entity, Post of Crimea. The brand remains active as the principal public postal network of Russia, although its exact current operating and governance structure should be checked against the latest official disclosures.

Russian postal history reaches back to medieval messenger systems. Records from the tenth century describe organized messengers, and early letters were commonly carried as rolled documents secured with wax or lead seals. By the sixteenth century, the network reportedly included about 1,600 locations. A regular international route to Warsaw was established after the 1634 peace treaty between Russia and Poland. Peter the Great introduced reforms that made postal administration more regular and centralized. General post offices opened in Saint Petersburg and Moscow in 1714, followed by scheduled services on the Saint Petersburg–Riga and Saint Petersburg–Moscow routes. A field post office appeared in 1716, while a faster state correspondence service was organized in 1720. Private parcel delivery expanded during the eighteenth century, and by 1781 money could be delivered to private addresses. Postal coaches emerged in 1820, and Saint Petersburg developed a city-post structure with district offices and reception points. Printed-periodical delivery was organized there in 1838. Mailboxes, stamped envelopes and railway-related collection services were introduced during the middle of the nineteenth century, and Russia issued its first postage stamps in 1857. Russia became a founding member of the Universal Postal Union in 1874. During the Imperial period, local zemstvo administrations also operated postal services and issued their own stamps. The postal administration was transferred between government departments, becoming part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in 1902. In 1917, under the Provisional Government, it became associated with the Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs. In the Soviet period, postal operations were administered as part of the communications system. During the Second World War, Soviet postal services transported very large quantities of parcels and correspondence from the rear to the army front under dangerous conditions. After the war, the communications administration was reorganized as a ministry, and the postal network was restored to its prewar level by 1950. Postal services were managed alongside telecommunications until the end of the Soviet Union. The Russian Federation began separating postal and telecommunications operations in the early 1990s. The Federal Postal Administration was established on November 16, 1992, and a 1993 order created territorial postal administrations and separate postal institutions in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. The Federal Postal Administration became the Federal Postal Service in 1995, but the latter was abolished in 1996 and its functions returned to the communications ministry. The 1990s also saw the entry of commercial competitors into selected postal markets, including courier delivery, pension and benefit distribution, parcel forwarding and periodical circulation. A professional Russian Post Day was established in 1994, while an official flag and emblem were adopted during the decade. The decisive institutional reform came in 2002. The post-Soviet system consisted of roughly 90 legally separate organizations, often operating with incompatible technology, duplicated administration and conflicting commercial incentives. The government’s restructuring concept called for their consolidation into a single federal state unitary enterprise while retaining state control. Russian Post was established by decree on September 5, 2002, received its charter on February 11, 2003, and was registered on February 13. In 2004, major postal and technical organizations were merged into the new enterprise. In 2005, 81 remaining federal postal institutions and administrations were liquidated or transferred into the consolidated structure. Modernization efforts included the construction of automated sorting capacity, beginning with a tender won by Elsag Datamat in 2004. Management changes followed, including the appointment of former Sberbank chief Andrey Kazmin in 2008 and his departure in 2009. Aleksandr Kiselyov led the organization from 2009 until his removal in 2013. During the early 2010s, rising online retail and international parcel volumes exposed serious weaknesses in sorting, customs coordination and airport processing. Russian Post responded with new international exchange centers, regional logistics capacity, international pre-sorting arrangements and expanded air services for remote territories. The enterprise also pursued banking and other adjacent services, including its ownership stake in Pochta Bank. Its continuing challenge has been to modernize a large national network while maintaining universal access and fulfilling public-service duties.

• 2013

  Administrative and management reform

  [1]Russian Posten.wikipedia.org

  Following international-mail disruption, the government changed Russian Post’s ministerial supervision and Aleksandr Kiselyov left the general-director position.

• 2005

  Regional postal entities consolidated

  [1]Russian Posten.wikipedia.org

  Dozens of federal postal administrations and the main trunk-mail center were liquidated or transferred into Russian Post.

• 2004

  First automated sorting-center project awarded

  Elsag Datamat won a tender connected with the construction of Russian Post’s first automated sorting center.

• 2003

  Enterprise receives charter and registration

  [1]Russian Posten.wikipedia.org

  The charter was approved in February and state registration was completed on February 13, formalizing the new organization.

• 2002

  Government approves postal restructuring

  [1]Russian Posten.wikipedia.org

  A government concept proposed consolidating the fragmented federal postal organizations into one state-controlled enterprise.

• 2002

  Russian Post established by government decree

  [1]Russian Posten.wikipedia.org

  The unified Russian Post enterprise was formally created on September 5, 2002.

• 1992

  Federal Postal Administration established

  [1]Russian Posten.wikipedia.org

  The Russian Federation created a dedicated federal postal administration as it separated postal operations from the former unified Soviet communications structure.

• 1874

  Russia becomes a founding member of the Universal Postal Union

  [1]Russian Posten.wikipedia.org

  The Russian postal administration joined the international organization established to coordinate global postal exchange.

• 1857

  First Russian postage stamps issued

  [1]Russian Posten.wikipedia.org

  Russia introduced its first official postage stamps during the nineteenth-century modernization of the postal system.

• 1714

  General post offices open in Saint Petersburg and Moscow

  [1]Russian Posten.wikipedia.org

  Peter the Great’s reforms established the first general post offices in the two principal Russian cities and introduced more regular state postal routes.

A state-owned universal postal-service network combining nationwide accessibility and public-service responsibilities with parcel logistics, e-commerce fulfillment and postal retail services.

• Postal services

  Domestic mail

  Letters, printed correspondence and other domestic postal items collected and delivered through Russian Post’s nationwide network. The service forms part of the organization’s universal-service role and remains available through its extensive branch and delivery infrastructure.

• Logistics

  Parcel delivery

  Domestic and international parcel transportation, including the growing flow of packages generated by online retail. Russian Post has expanded sorting, exchange-center and regional logistics capacity to handle higher parcel volumes.

• Express delivery

  EMS

  Express postal delivery for time-sensitive documents and packages. EMS items are handled through a dedicated express service within the broader postal network, including international shipments.

• International postal services

  International mail processing

  Acceptance, customs coordination, sorting and delivery of inbound and outbound international correspondence and parcels. International processing became a major operational focus as cross-border e-commerce expanded in the early 2010s.

• Financial and public services

  Money transfers and social payments

  Postal remittances and the delivery of pensions and other social benefits. These public-service responsibilities distinguish Russian Post from purely commercial courier operators and require continued coverage in remote communities.

• Postal retail

  Postage stamps and philately

  Issuance and sale of postage stamps and related philatelic products. Stamp production and distribution are part of Russian Post’s statutory role as the national postal operator.

• 2013Remote-region air-mail expansion

  Russia

  Russian Post launched and expanded regional air links in the Russian Far East and Yakutia to improve the reliability of mail delivery across territories with difficult geography and limited surface transport.

  Outcome. Additional air capacity was introduced as part of a broader logistics-modernization program.

  Source

• 2013

  Accelerate parcel and logistics modernizationStrategy

  Background

  International online-shopping parcels had increased sharply, causing backlogs at Moscow airports, customs posts and international mail facilities.

  Action taken

  Management planned new international processing centers, regional capacity, foreign-operator pre-sorting and expanded air links to remote areas, while emphasizing online-retail deliveries and adjacent financial services.

  Aftermath

  The program sought to reduce delivery times and prepare Russian Post for higher parcel volumes and possible future corporatization or public offering.

  Source

• 2004

  Begin automated sorting-center modernizationOther

  Background

  The restructured organization needed to replace labor-intensive and inconsistent processing arrangements with more standardized technology.

  Action taken

  A tender for Russian Post’s first automated sorting center was won by Elsag Datamat.

  Aftermath

  Automation became part of the organization’s longer-term response to rising mail and parcel volumes.

  Source

• 2002

  Consolidate the fragmented federal postal systemStrategy

  Background

  After the Soviet Union’s collapse, postal operations were divided among numerous legally separate organizations with incompatible systems and weak coordination.

  Action taken

  The government approved a restructuring concept and created Russian Post as a unified, state-controlled federal enterprise.

  Aftermath

  Regional administrations and related postal organizations were progressively merged or transferred into the consolidated enterprise during 2004–2005.

  Source

• 2013

  Russian Post receives strategic-enterprise designation[1]Russian Posten.wikipedia.org

  Regulation

  A presidential decree placed Russian Post among Russia’s strategic enterprises.

• 2013

  Government changes Russian Post’s administrative supervision[1]Russian Posten.wikipedia.org

  Regulation · Leadership change

  The prime minister moved Russian Post out of the Federal Communications Agency’s remit and placed it directly under the communications ministry after a period of severe international-mail disruption.

• 2013

  Russian Post expands air-mail links to remote regions[1]Russian Posten.wikipedia.org

  Product launch

  The organization launched regional air links in the Russian Far East and Yakutia as part of an effort to improve delivery across difficult geography.

• 2012

  International parcel delays expose capacity problems[1]Russian Posten.wikipedia.org

  Other

  A sharp increase in cross-border online-shopping parcels produced major backlogs at Moscow international mail and airport customs facilities, prompting widespread customer complaints.

• 2002

  Government creates Russian Post as a unified federal postal enterprise[1]Russian Posten.wikipedia.org

  Other

  The Russian government approved a restructuring plan and created a consolidated enterprise to replace the fragmented post-Soviet postal structure.

1. 1Russian Posten.wikipedia.org
2. 2Russian Post official websitepochta.ru