Poczta Polska must focus on modernization and digitization, the purchase of Orlen Paczka would not solve its problems – said Wojciech Balczun, Minister of State Assets, in an interview with PAP Business.
At the beginning of February, Orlen announced that together with Poczta Polska it was decided to withdraw from the agreement regarding the acquisition of up to 100 percent by Poczta Polska. shares in Orlen Paczka.
At the end of September 2025, Orlen signed a preliminary agreement with Poczta Polska regulating the terms of cooperation between both companies on the commercial courier shipments market. After agreeing on the final conditions, Poczta Polska was to acquire a minority stake in Orlen Paczka, and ultimately could acquire 100 percent. its shares.
“Poczta Polska is a company that has been structurally and systemically lacking funding for years and at the same time failing to adapt to changing market conditions. It provides public services, including for the Ministry of Justice. It is responsible for a whole range of activities that result from the public mission, and which actually generate costs and burdens for the Post Office,” said Balczun.
Referring to the Orlen Paczka project, the minister pointed out that it would not sufficiently solve the problems of the Post Office.
“The decision regarding Orlen Paczka is the result of the work of both parties after signing the preliminary agreement. As a result of an objective analysis, both parties came to the conclusion that such a simple scenario is not beneficial to anyone in the end,” said the head of MAP.
According to Balczun, Poczta Polska should focus more on its core activities, including improving the standard of branches, computerization and implementing modern technological solutions.
“The current management board took over Poczta Polska, which had many years of investment, financial and technological neglect. Its actions require many difficult and unpopular decisions and a deep reconstruction of the foundations of the Post Office, instead of simple, one-off solutions. Therefore, the current management bases its decisions on facts and the long-term interest of the company, even when it means giving up impressive but unsustainable projects,” said the head of MAP.
He pointed out that the Post Office has many outdated IT systems, the history of which dates back even 20-30 years. He added that modernization requires multi-billion investment outlays.
“From this perspective, to purchase Orlen Paczka, Poczta would have to have adequate capital, and this does not mean that it could significantly change its market position, because it would require very high additional investment outlays,” Balczun explained.
The head of MAP said that Orlen has alternative solutions for the development of the Orlen Paczka project, while Poczta Polska can develop its operations on the courier and logistics services market through cooperation with partners.
“The Post Office still has huge potential, it has logistics, it has post offices, so there is room for development without the need to incur such large investment outlays,” he pointed out.
The minister emphasized that “the times are over when companies bought assets without a reliable economic analysis in the name of political interests.”
After signing the agreement with Poczta Polska, Orlen stated that its subsidiary Orlen Paczka has over 14,000. parcel collection points, including approx. 7 thousand parcel machines, while Poczta Polska has over 20,000. parcel collection points including: post offices, parcel machines, Żabka stores and points belonging to the Eurocash Group, such as ABC, Lewiatan, Delikatesy Centrum, Groszek, Duży Ben and others.
Poczta Polska is a State Treasury company, the largest postal operator on the domestic market. Its network covers 7.6 thousand branches, branches and postal agencies throughout Poland. The company delivers 800 million letters and 80 million parcels annually.
In 2024, the company recorded a net loss of PLN 213 million, which was lower by PLN 408 million compared to 2023. In turn, EBITDA increased to PLN 42 million in 2024, compared to a negative result of PLN 591 million a year earlier.
In 2024, Poczta Polska also recorded an increase in sales revenues by PLN 200 million, which means a year-on-year improvement of 3 percent, and revenues from universal services increased by PLN 139 million, or 4.8 percent. compared to 2023. In 2023, it recorded a record gross loss of PLN 745 million; in 2024, the gross result improved by PLN 515 million.
Aneta Oksiuta, Anna Pełka, Piotr Rożek (PAP)
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