The Parliament extended by five years the period for which "Bulgarian Posts" EAD is assigned an obligation to provide the universal postal service, starting from December 30, 2025. This happened with the adoption of the second reading of amendments to the Postal Services Act.
According to the amendments, the provision of the universal postal service represents an unfair financial burden for "Bulgarian Posts" EAD, for which the company will be compensated by the state.
In the reasons, the submitter of the amendments - the Council of Ministers - indicates that a Restructuring Plan for the company has been prepared in order to rehabilitate and financially stabilize "Bulgarian Posts" EAD. The plan has been submitted to the European Commission in accordance with the established procedure.
Among the main requirements of the EC is that the Bulgarian state must guarantee at least for the term of the Restructuring Plan the implementation of the universal postal service by "Bulgarian Posts". In this regard, the current draft law provides for the term of the obligation to be extended by five years, starting from December 30, 2025.
The extension of the term of assignment of the obligation to implement the universal postal service is also justified by the need to guarantee its provision by the state, thus, according to the submitters, ensuring access to postal services for people from the most remote, difficult-to-reach and sparsely populated areas.
The obligation to implement the universal postal service will now be assigned not by law, but by an act of the Council of Ministers, the adopted legal amendments also provide. Until the adoption of the act for assigning the service to "Bulgarian Posts" EAD, the company has the obligation to provide the universal postal service according to the current procedure.