Slovak Post Office Not Going to Close Hundreds of Branches, Just Ones Announced

Bratislava, 23 July (TASR) - The Slovak Post Office won't close hundreds of its branches; just 26 regional branches will be cancelled and 29 district post offices will be replaced with more accessible branches with expanded services, the Slovak Post Office said in reaction to statements made by the opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) party earlier on Wednesday, adding that it plans to gradually transform its rural branches into franchises. "We can assure the public that the Slovak Post Office won't shut down hundreds of its branches. For weeks now, we've been openly communicating the end of operation of 26 regional branches and 29 district branches (this number is final), which we will replace with branches with longer opening hours, reinforced counters, expanded services, good public transport accessibility and better parking. Their distances from the original branches are 850 metres to 3.5 kilometres. Rural branches won't be scrapped, but gradually transformed into franchises. This model is currently being prepared in an open dialogue with local governments," said Slovak Post Office spokesperson Eva Peterova. According to Peterova, it's no longer necessary to go to a post office to pick up pensions, parcels or pay bills. Postal workers will continue to deliver consignments, pay out pensions and social benefits, and people can send a letter or parcel or pay cheques via them as well. According to the Slovak Post Office, online services and a mobile application are also available to customers, and through these they can pay for a consignment and subsequently send it via BalikoBox, ask for a repeated delivery of a consignment or redirect it to any other address. The Slovak Post Office stated that the declining number of customers who visit its branches attests to the fact that the public more frequently uses alternative postal services now, such as couriers, alternative postal points or its mobile app. PS told a news conference earlier on Wednesday that the closure of 26 post offices in regional towns and cities will be followed by the scrapping of dozens of branches in district towns and hundreds in villages. They stated that people in smaller towns and villages will have to travel kilometres to pay bills, pick up a parcel or send a letter, adding that this will make postal services less available in many locations. ko/df