Ukrposhta JSC has reduced the delivery time for shipments from Ukraine to the United States to 14 days from 20 days earlier, Yulia Pavlenko, director of the international operations department of Ukrposhta JSC, said in an exclusive video interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
“Currently, Ukrposhta’s delivery times abroad are 7-21 days in Europe, depending on the country, and up to two weeks in the United States,” Pavlenko said, adding that previously, delivery to the United States took up to 20 days.
According to her, the company managed to reduce the delivery time of shipments from Ukraine abroad thanks to cooperation with DHL, one of the world’s largest logistics companies.
“Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, I had a great desire to agree with DHL to accept Ukrposhta’s shipments on their planes. It was not immediately possible to agree on this – we had different samples of documents – Ukrposhta had a postal sample, and DHL had a sample of an express carrier. However, it happened, and recently, DHL Global Match, a special division of DHL in London, has been receiving full trucks from Ukraine. Ukrposhta’s cargoes are loaded onto DHL Aviation aircraft (DHL’s worldwide air transportation division – IF-U). I am very pleased with the pace we have during the season and off-season thanks to this cooperation,” Pavlenko said.
As it is known, Ukrposhta delivers parcels and correspondence to/from Ukraine to 190 countries.
The full interview with Yulia Pavlenko, Director of the International Operations Department of Ukrposhta, will be available soon on the website of Interfax-Ukraine at www.interfax.com.ua.
In 2024, Ukrposhta JSC increased the number of international shipments by 41% compared to 2023 – up to 36 million export and import shipments (excluding simple letters and letters without tracking numbers, which are sent by simple procedure without tracking – IF-U), said Yulia Pavlenko, Director of the International Operations Department of Ukrposhta JSC, in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
“In 2024, we will reach a figure of about 36 million export and import shipments (excluding simple letters and letters without tracking numbers, which are sent in a simple way without tracking – IF-U). This performance indicator was recorded as of December 17, 2024. In 2023, it amounted to 25.5 million tracked items,” Pavlenko said.
According to her, imports prevail: since the beginning of 2024, 32 million parcels have been delivered to Ukraine. These are mainly goods from foreign marketplaces, in particular, from China, which Ukrainians can buy cheaper than in Ukraine.
“There are fewer exports, but, of course, they are more valuable for us, as we are selling goods made by Ukrainian producers on the foreign market. These are mostly handmade goods,” Pavlenko said.
According to her, Ukrposhta continues to develop educational programs for small and medium-sized businesses that want to sell products on foreign marketplaces. In particular, the UA Etsy Global Start program, implemented in partnership with USAID, is nearing completion, under which the foundation provides a $500,000 grant for the best start-up entrepreneurs on Etsy. The program received 1.8 thousand applications from Ukrainian entrepreneurs who opened an Etsy store after October 2023. 500 winners were selected and given the opportunity to take a training course and receive $1100 in start-up assistance for their first promotions.
At the same time, a program for SMEs was implemented with the United Nations Development Program Fund with financial support from the Government of Japan. As part of it, training for small exporters at the Sustainable Business Academy was free of charge for entrepreneurs.
The Director of the International Operations Department at Ukrposhta said that Ukraine is now the ninth largest country in terms of sales on the largest handmade platform in the United States alone. Already 38 thousand Ukrainians have opened their own stores on Etsy.
In January-September 2024, Ukrposhta increased its revenue by 12.28% compared to the same period last year – up to UAH 9 billion 387 million, according to data posted on the website of the Ministry of Communities and Territories Development (Ministry of Development).
According to the report, the company’s gross profit increased 2.4 times in January-September 2023 to UAH 930.69 million, and its net loss decreased by 4.9% to UAH 565.64 million, including UAH 565.64 million in expenses.
Earlier it was reported that in the first half of 2024, Ukrposhta increased its revenue by 10.6% year-on-year to UAH 6 billion 170.2 million, while reducing its net loss by 34.5% to UAH 428.1 million. The company’s gross profit increased 16.6 times from UAH 31.1 million to UAH 550.6 million in the period under review.
Ukrposhta JSC, as part of a joint project with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), has announced two tenders for the purchase of 60 tractors and 60 semi-trailers with related full service services under the Ukrposhta logistics development project, which is scheduled to be implemented in 2025.
According to the announcement on the EBRD’s procurement portal, bids will be accepted until January 15, 2025.
“Updating the fleet with modern tractors with semi-trailers will optimize routes and reduce delivery time,” the announcement on the ProZorro portal reads.
An explanatory online meeting with interested suppliers is planned for mid-December 2024, where they will be able to ask questions about the tender documents.
As reported, on November 19, Ukrposhta announced a second tender for the purchase of 100 trucks under a project with the EBRD for the development of Ukrposhta’s logistics with implementation in 2024-2025.
In addition, Ukrposhta is also accepting bids until December 8 for the purchase of 880 electric courier scooters with loans and a grant from the EBRD, and in early October announced the purchase of 1745 electric postal tricycles.
As of June 30 this year, the company had about 28.84 thousand points of presence in Ukraine and 33.64 thousand employees.
The company’s revenues for the first half of 2024 increased by 10.6% year-on-year to UAH 6 billion 170.2 million, while net loss decreased by 34.5% to UAH 428.1 million.
Ukrainian State Postal Service Enterprise (USPS) “Ukrposhta” announced on October 23 its intention to conclude a contract with IC “European Insurance Alliance” (both – Kiev) for services of compulsory insurance of civil liability of owners of motor vehicles (OSAGO).
As reported in the system of electronic public procurement “Prozorro”, the expected cost of the service amounted to UAH 1.162 million, the company’s price offer – UAH 345,105 thousand.
The tender was also attended by insurance companies “Guardian” with an offer of UAH 350.799 thousand, “Inter-Policy” – UAH 350.8 thousand, “Kraina” – UAH 553.8 thousand, “Euroins Ukraine” – UAH 569.9 thousand.
In the first half of 2024, state-owned Ukrposhta increased its revenue by 10.6% year-on-year to UAH 6 billion 170.2 million, while reducing its net loss by 34.5% to UAH 428.1 million.
According to the reports published in the disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC), the company’s gross profit in the first half of 2024 increased 16.6 times – from UAH 31.1 million to UAH 550.6 million, while operating loss decreased by 43.6% to UAH 420.9 million.
In the first half of the year, national postal services accounted for the largest share of total revenues – UAH 3 billion 587.6 million (+19.5%), including the delivery of parcels and small packages – UAH 1 billion 895.2 million (+19.8%), written correspondence – UAH 741.8 million (+11.1%), international postal exchange – UAH 614.4 million (+34.5%), and subscriptions and delivery of periodicals – UAH 141.5 million (+36.5%).
Financial and related services brought Ukrposhta UAH 2 billion 203 million (+5.4%), including payment and delivery of pensions – UAH 1 billion 435.7 million (+0.1%), payment acceptance – UAH 561.8 million (+12.9%) and postal transfers – UAH 156.4 million (+19.5%).
Revenues from trading in the company’s own and commission goods decreased by 22.4% to UAH 377.8 million in the first half of the year.
It is noted that investment expenditures on non-current assets increased by 31.8% to UAH 312.1 billion.
It is specified that as of June 30, 2024, funds on demand and deposits in the amount of UAH 2 billion 105.7 million (as of December 31, 2022 – UAH 2 billion 275.1 million) were placed in three large Ukrainian state-owned banks.
It is noted that as of the middle of this year, the company’s current liabilities exceeded its current assets by UAH 3.49 billion, while at the beginning of the year they were UAH 3.01 billion.
According to the report, as of June 30, the company had about 28.84 thousand points of presence in Ukraine and 33.64 thousand employees.
It is emphasized that the company is gradually adapting to the difficult conditions by improving its business processes and investing in automation and continuous operations. In particular, by the end of the third quarter of 2024, it plans to complete the transition to automated parcel sorting and implement a new Track & Trace system.
“A special priority for the company is to prepare for a difficult winter in the face of possible blackouts. We are purchasing additional materials and equipment for heating, power supply and communications, including additional 3-in-1 devices for the network. The new BePost front-end system is being scaled up, and IT systems are being finalized to enable offline operation,” Ukrposhta said.
The company noted that it sees these measures not only as additional critical investments in continuity, but also as a potential opportunity to increase service volumes in the event of power outages.
According to its management, taking into account the probability of possible scenarios, Ukrposhta’s cash flows from operating activities for the 12 months to the end of the second quarter of 2025 are positive. The company has additionally assessed potential risks of its operations, primarily such as a shortfall in revenues from postal and financial areas during blackouts and additional costs for the winter.
“The corresponding stress test of the liquidity forecast demonstrates that the company will be able to continue to meet its obligations to creditors and complete key investment projects in the foreseeable future,” the report says.
As reported, in the first quarter of 2024, Ukrposhta increased its revenue by 10.1% to UAH 3.05 billion, reducing its net loss by 2.1 times to UAH 190.3 million.
