The war in Ukraine caused by the ongoing military actions of the Russian Federation generated a number of significant actions within the Association, including the ones decided at the 17 March Board of Directors Meeting (BoD126) as well as the organisation of the dedicated PostEurop CEOs meeting on the Humanitarian Aid to Ukraine of 1 April 2022, as informed previously.

As a follow-up, an Extraordinary PostEurop Board of Directors meeting was held on 25 April 2022 and the following decisions have been taken.

Extraordinary General Assembly

A virtual Extraordinary General Assembly will take place on Wednesday, 1 June 2022 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. (Brussels CEST), including on its agenda:

1. The amendment of the Association’s Statutes to allow for the suspension or exclusion of a Member from PostEurop;
2. The revocation of Mrs Olga Zhitnikova of JSC Russian Post as a Member of the Board of Directors.

An official convening notice to the Virtual Extraordinary General Assembly will be sent out on Friday, 29 April 2022.

After the Extraordinary General Assembly of 1 June, a second Extraordinary Board of Directors meeting will take place in order to implement the decisions of the Extraordinary General Assembly.

Board of Directors - General Assembly Committee

With immediate effect, the Board of Directors revoked the position of Mrs Olga Zhitnikova of JSC Russian Post as Chairperson of the General Assembly Committee. A new Chairperson of this Board of Directors’ Committee will be appointed at the Committee’s next meeting to replace Mrs Zhitnikova until the end of the current Board mandate (31 December 2022).

Operational Activities Circle

With immediate effect, the positions of Mr Ilya Baryshev of JSC Russian Post, Vice-Chair of the Operational Data Working Group, and Mr Aram Sarkisyan of JSC Russian Post, Vice-Chair of the Innovation Forum, have been revoked.

Best Practice-Wider Europe Transversal

With immediate effect the position of Mrs Olga Zhitnikova of JSC Russian Post as Chair of the Best Practice-Wider Europe Transversal has been revoked.  Mrs Candan Senyüz from Turkish PTT, as the current Vice-Chair, will assume the position of acting Chair of the Best Practices-Wider Europe Transversal until the end of the current Board mandate (31 December 2022).

EUROPA Stamps

Russia and Belarus are allowed to issue their 2022 EUROPA Stamps under the “Stories & Myths” theme given their membership status at the time of the call for publication and following the existing EUROPA guidelines.

However, Russia and Belarus would not be included in the 2022 Most Beautiful EUROPA Stamps competition which will soon take place from 9 May till 9 September 2022. 

The 2023 EUROPA theme will be changed to “PEACE – the highest value of humanity” in order “ to show solidarity with Ukraine and to promote the main value for all humanity – peace”. 

The "Underwater Fauna & Flora" will become the EUROPA stamp theme for 2024 instead.

We thank you for your precious cooperation and your support in these difficult moments for our organisation and, more broadly, our continent.

Sincerely,

Jean-Paul Forceville                                                   Botond Szebeny
Chairman of the PostEurop Board of Directors      PostEurop Secretary General

See also
Organisational Structure

POSTEUROP is the association which represents European public postal operators. It is committed to supporting and developing a sustainable European postal communication market accessible to all customers and ensuring a modern and affordable universal service. Our Members represent 2.0 million employees across Europe and deliver to 800 million customers daily through over 175,000 counters.