The postal and logistics group Meest is planning to attract a strategic investor to build a stable business in Europe, Meest China shareholder Vyacheslav Lysenko told Interfax-Ukraine in a blitz interview.
“We are preparing the company to go public, and we have attracted powerful investments for its development – a powerful foreign investor who appreciates our achievements and experience, is interested in the stable business that our company will build in Europe,” Lysenko said.
It is a strategic investor, the company’s shareholder clarified.
He refused to name the size of the stake the group is ready to offer to the “strategist.”
At the same time, a Meest China shareholder confirmed that the potential investor is a logistics company.
The deal could be closed in 2025, Lysenko said.
Meest Group delivers to 90 countries and has been operating in the c2c and b2c postal services market for over 30 years. The company was founded by entrepreneur Rostyslav Kysel, who remains its beneficiary and is responsible for the strategic direction of the company. The Group of companies includes Meest China, Meest USA, Meest Europe and Meest Ukraine.
Meest China has been a leader in the delivery of postal parcels from China for over 15 years. It also delivers large cargoes from China with customs clearance. It has its own warehouse of 5 thousand square meters in Guangzhou.
In May 2024, Meest International launched a new logistics center near the city of Dębica in Poland, 170 km from the border. The company plans to expand its network of hubs in Eastern and Central Europe.
The postal and logistics group Meest intends to set up its own air transportation company a year after the end of the war, Meest China shareholder Vyacheslav Lysenko told Interfax-Ukraine in an interview.
“An international aviation logistics group is very serious. We need to prepare for it now, and this is exactly what we are doing now – studying, calculating, modeling. I can say this – we will definitely approach the issue of purchasing transport aircraft a year after the end of the war,” he said, adding that the company is carefully studying the purchase of transcontinental aircraft capable of flying up to 10 thousand kilometers.
The group came to the conclusion that it needed to set up its own air transportation company three years ago, but the issue was put on hold due to the full-scale invasion.
“We have this dream and have been studying this issue for three years now. But now it is definitely not on the agenda because of the full-scale invasion and the closed skies over Ukraine. We will not use European airports, because in this case we lose all competitive advantages. European companies have hundreds, thousands of airplanes and, of course, have better conditions and rates,” Lysenko said.
Postal and logistics operator Meest Export has been included in the Unified State Register of postal operators, which will allow it to offer services to businesses operating in the field of electronic commerce, Meest China shareholder Vyacheslav Lysenko told Interfax-Ukraine.
The National Commission, which carries out state regulation in the spheres of electronic communications, radio frequency spectrum and provision of postal services, decided to include Meest Export in the state register of postal operators on August 9.
“Meest has been operating in the postal services market for more than 30 years in both c2c and b2c segments. We see high demand from online stores, marketplaces, and most of all from SMEs looking for other markets for their products. Having international experience in e-commerce, we decided to separate export by postal channel into a separate business line of the group,” Lysenko said.
In addition, according to him, the operator will focus on the creation of a new product for small and medium-sized businesses that are interested in bringing the sale of goods to the markets of Europe, the United States, and China.
“The product will include three solutions: easy integration with foreign marketplaces, access to customer base and promotion, fast logistics and customs procedures, as well as fast refunds,” Lysenko specified.
The product to be offered to the market can be called a “concierge service” for businesses exporting goods from Ukraine, he added.
Postal and logistics operator Meest has been operating in the postal services market for more than 30 years. It has its own infrastructure in more than 20 countries and delivers parcels to 95 countries.
The Meest international postal and logistics group with Ukrainian roots, through its subsidiary Meest China, has resumed the purchase and delivery of goods from China to Ukraine.
According to the company’s announcement on Wednesday, delivery to Ukraine of both postal items and commercial cargo is available.
Earlier, Meest resumed international delivery of parcels to the countries of the European Union: Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary.
At the same time, the company said on its website that due to the war on the territory of Ukraine [which Russia unleashed with its invasion on February 24] and the introduction of martial law in the country, the delivery time for international shipments to European countries may be extended and will depend on further development situations.
The postal and logistics operator Trade House Meest Express LLC (Meest Express, Lviv) has launched air delivery from the United States to Lviv.
“Meest is the first Ukrainian postal and logistic company with its own air delivery from the United States. Today we met the charter flight we rented in Lviv – Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner of the LOT airline – with parcels of our dear customers,” President of Meest Rostyslav Kysil wrote on his Facebook page.
He also said that this flight was the first transatlantic flight in Lviv.
The Lviv international airport said in a report that the Polish airline LOT performed the first test flight for Meest Express.
“We are very pleased with the opening of long-haul cargo transportation to Lviv. Since the onset of the aviation crisis, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have actively switched to finding alternative sources of income… Today, we have a beautiful Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner cargo aircraft from the airline LOT, performing a test presentation flight. Next, we will continue to work on which airline will deliver goods to Lviv,” Director General of the Lviv airport Tetiana Romanovska said.
According to her, the opening of such flights will save the situation with the financial condition of the enterprise and will provide an opportunity to improve it in the winter.
“From now on, the Lviv airport becomes not only a passenger, but also a cargo aviation hub,” Romanovska said.
Meest Group is part of Meest Corporation Inc. (Toronto, Canada). It provides postal and logistics services in 20 countries: Canada, the United States, Ukraine, Australia, Germany, the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Poland, China, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Israel.
Meest China, which is part of Meest group of companies, has launched direct air delivery of commercial freight to Ukraine from China. Meest said on its Facebook page that flights will be operated on Beijing-Boryspil and Guangzhou-Boryspil routes twice a week. Cargoes are accepted in volumes of three cubic meters, which is convenient for small and medium-size entrepreneurs.
Meest Group (part of Meest Corporation Inc., Toronto, Canada) provides postal and logistics services in 20 countries in particular, Canada, the United States, Ukraine, Australia, Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Poland, China, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Israel.
In Ukraine, the group is represented by the postal and logistics operator Meest Express, which has been providing targeted delivery services since 2005.
