Postal services in the European Union are regulated under Chapter 3, which regulates services, while Serbia is in the preparatory phase of the negotiations on this chapter, said Assistant to the Minister of Foreign and Internal Trade and Telecommunications Nebojša Vasiljević at the roundtable “Postal Activity in 2013/2014”.
Vasiljević noted that today the development of postal services is mostly affected by the development of electronic business which moves the focus from letters to packages that are sent in the framework of electronic commerce. The Assistant Minister pointed out that the draft amendments to the Law on Postal Services are completed and harmonized with European legislation, and that their adoption by the Serbian parliament is expected by the end of the current year.
The postal sector participates in the GDP of Serbia with over 0.5 per cent, and it employs 1.2 percent of the total number of employees in Serbia, but the importance of the postal sector for the economy as a whole and for each economic sector in particular, far exceeds the data, said the Vice President of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce Raša Ristivojević. He pointed to the key subjects within the postal sector in Serbia, such as the European regulations under the national law on postal services, the results of the Action Plan of the public and private sectors in accordance with the Strategy for the development of postal services in Serbia for the period 2013-2016, the draft amendments to the Law on Postal Services, as well as Chapter 3 of the EU accession negotiations.
Olja Jovičić, director of the international sector in the Public Enterprise of PTT Communications “Serbia”, pointed out the fact that the EU liberalization of trade in services was completed on January 1, 2013, but that there are indications of the adoption of Directive 4 relating to postal services, which should regulate the changes resulting from the use of new technology in the postal service.
Željko Ivanji, director of the Public Enterprise of PTT Communications “Serbia”, noted that the year 2012, is the last year for which calculations are complete, and that according to them the public enterprise made a profit of 30 million euros, and that PTT “Serbia” will develop in the direction of e-commerce, digital business and partnership with the state.
The roundtable, in the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Foreign and Internal Trade and Telecommunication, the Post of Serbia and courier services, Customs Administration, the Republic Agency for Postal Services, the Republic Agency for Telecommunications, traffic and engineering faculties, numerous businessmen, and representatives of the chamber system. The overall conclusion of the roundtable was that a public-private partnership would significantly raise the quality of postal services in Serbia.
