We would like to inform our Members, Stakeholders and Partners of the recent key decisions and developments which took place during our General Assembly, hosted by An Post in Dublin, Ireland from 5 to 6 October 2022.
On the first physical General Assembly since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, over 110 participants including delegates from around 40 PostEurop Member Countries and several observers, attended the event. This high number of attendance exceeded our expectations, as some pandemic-related restrictions and unexpected setbacks are still being experienced by many of us.
The opening of the General Assembly started with our Chairman, Mr Jean-Paul Forceville, and our Secretary General, Mr Botond Szebeny thanking the organising team of An Post for their commitment and hard work in preparing this event (first scheduled for October 2020) and welcoming all delegates. Mr David McRedmond CEO of An Post mentioned the key role postal operators played during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how together they were able to face the various challenges, and to support and serve their communities, while reshaping the e-commerce, data, and digital infrastructures. In his welcome address, Mr Masahiko Metoki, Director General of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) also spoke on the important role PostEurop, and its Members play at a UPU level and how both organisations can together help guide discussions in the postal world and influence shaping the future of posts.
Update from Mr Igor Smelyansky, CEO of Ukrposhta (by remote connection)
Delegates received a live update from Ukrposhta’s colleagues and their CEO Mr Igor Smelyansky via live stream on the current difficult situation in Ukraine, including the status and condition of Ukrposhta’s operations and infrastructures in the country. Ukrposhta is grateful for the continued support PostEurop Members provided to Ukrposhta, their postal colleagues, their families, friends, and Ukraine during these difficult times.
Reconduction of the suspension of JSC Russian Post and RUE Belpochta
Subsequent to the recent PostEurop Board of Directors decision on 23 June 2022 to the temporary suspend JSC Russian Post and RUE Belpochta’s membership rights, PostEurop Members were asked to vote on the reconduction of the suspension. This motion was approved unanimously by our Members, hence the suspension will continue in place for one more year until the next General Assembly in 2023. It is important to note that, this decision does not impact the postal services.
Election of a new member of the Board of Directors (BoD) replacing Mrs Olga Zhitnikova
The temporary suspension of JSC Russian Post also led to the revocation of Mrs Olga Zhitnikova from the PostEurop Board of Directors before the end of the current term of office on 31 December 2022. During the General Assembly, PostEurop Members were asked to elect the replacing official, and Mr Levan Chikvaidze, CEO of Georgian Post was elected to fulfil this role.
Election of the new Board of Directors (BoD) members for the 2023-2025 term
During the General Assembly, PostEurop Members also had to elect the Board of Directors for the upcoming 2023-2025 term as of 1 January 2023. The following Members were elected for this new cycle:
Kristin Bergum (Posten Norge AS), Felix Blaich (Deutsche Post DHL Group), Levan Chikvaidze (Georgian Post), Berend Dorgelo (PostNL), Jean-Paul Forceville (La Poste Groupe), Krzysztof Górski (Poczta Polska), Oliver Kaliski (Österreichische Post AG), David Pilkington (Royal Mail International), Elena Fernández-Rodríguez (Correos y Telégrafos S.A.), Candan Senyüz (Turkish PTT), Aimé Theubet (Swiss Post)
(The names on this list are displayed in alphabetical order by family name).
Election of the new Board of Directors Chairperson and new Vice-Chairperson
Once the 5 October General Assembly session ended, a Constituent Board of Directors meeting of the newly elected Board of Directors members took place in order to appoint the new Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson of the Board for the upcoming cycle. Elena Fernández-Rodríguez (Correos y Telégrafos S.A.) and Oliver Kaliski (Österreichische Post) were appointed Chairwoman and Vice-Chairman of the PostEurop Board of Directors respectively for the new 2023-2025 term, starting their respective functions as of 1 January 2023.
Elena Fernández Rodríguez from Correos y Telégrafos S.A. holds the position of Director of International Relations and Sustainability since 2016, being responsible for the design of the international regulatory strategy, the Studies Service and the definition of the company’s Sustainability Plan. Previously, she was Head of International Relations and Regulation from 2004 to 2015. She has held several leading positions within PostEurop and the UPU. From 2011 to 2015, she led the UPU & Restricted Unions Affairs Committee while being an active member of the PostEurop Management Board during the same period. She is Chair of the European Affairs Committee at PostEurop since 2015, and at UPU level, she chaired, among others, the Strategy Committee and the Development Cooperation Committee.
Oliver Kaliski from Österreichische Post AG (Austria) was re-appointed as Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors. Oliver joined the Board of Directors as a member in November 2018. He is Head of International Relations at Österreichische Post. He is responsible for managing and coordinating activities and relations with international organisations. Prior to taking up Management Board duties, Oliver has held the position of Vice-Chair of the Market Activities Circle and is engaged in PostEurop regulatory affairs matters. Before joining the Austrian Post, Oliver held various positions in the Telecommunication sector including as Senior Adviser in Regulatory and European Affairs for Telekom Austria Group as well as Mobilkom Austria group.
"Congratulations to all members of the newly elected Board of Directors on their election for the new term. Special congratulations to Mrs Fernández-Rodríguez and Mr Kaliski for their appointment as Chairwoman and Vice-Chairman for this new Board cycle. We are all confident that PostEurop will reach further highs in the upcoming Board cycle, with the leadership of Elena and Oliver, successfully facing the increased complexity of the global environment.”, said Botond Szebeny, Secretary General of PostEurop.
“My fourth and final term as President will end on 31 December. During these twelve years, we have increased the visibility and credibility of our association. This is a collective effort that must, of course, be continued. I am very happy to hand over to the very talented Elena Fernández Rodríguez who has my full confidence. She can count on my total support. Finally, I was very grateful for the thanks I received during our General Assembly.”, said Jean-Paul Forceville Chairman of PostEurop
“We are living very challenging moments, we are facing health, economic, social, human and climatic risks. All these challenges and the ones to come, will call for further cooperation, open dialogue, innovative thinking and trust. I really believe that we can only successfully face all of these if we are together. Thank you all for your support! I am looking forward to keep working with all of you!”, said Elena Fernández-Rodríguez, Incoming Chairwoman of PostEurop
The General Assembly officially ended with a special dinner hosted by An Post at their historical and iconic GPO building, where delegates were presented with the traditional (and dearly missed) awards ceremony, in order to present the winners of the 2022 Innovation, CSR Coups de Coeur and EUROPA Stamps Competition Awards (Read the related Press Releases). This was an extremely emotional evening as we also arranged a special farewell surprise for Mr Jean-Paul Forceville who will leave the position of PostEurop Chairman at year-end, after twelve dedicated years in leading the Association’s endeavours. His chairmanship has allowed the PostEurop community to continuously evolve and prosper throughout the several challenges that the postal industry has faced. We would like to thank Mr Forceville for this, and to wish him luck not only for the remaining time of his mandate until the end of the year, but also for the different role he will assume within the PostEurop Board of Directors as of 1 January 2023.
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For more information, please contact:
Cynthia Wee Neumann
Communications Manager
T: +2 2 773 11 92
E: cynthia.wee@posteurop.org
POSTEUROP is the association which represents European public postal operators. It is committed to supporting and developing a sustainable and competitive European postal communication market accessible to all customers and ensuring a modern and affordable universal service. Our Members represent 2 million employees across Europe and deliver to 800 million customers daily.
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