Yoaz Handel (Flash 90 / Noam Ravkin Fenton)
Minister of Communications Yoaz Handel announces today (Wednesday) his intention to promote the privatization of 100% of the state’s holdings in the Israel Postal Company. The decision was made after a series of discussions with the participation of the professional echelons in the Ministry of Finance and in cooperation with the Companies Authority. According to the professional levels, complete privatization of the postal company is a long-term solution to the structural problems of the postal company and the postal services to the public.
The privatization outline agreed upon by Communications Minister Yoaz Handel and Finance Minister Avigdor Leberman seeks to promote an IPO of up to 40% of the postal company’s shares on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Simultaneously with the issuance of 40% of the shares of the postal company, the Minister of Communications and the Minister of Finance will promote the procedures that will lead to full privatization through the sale of the rest of the state shares in the postal company through a private sale, or an IPO or any combination.
More in-
As you may recall, in 2018, the state began a process of selling 20% of the company’s shares to a private investor. The Ministry of Communications believes that this model does not achieve the goal, and as long as the state remains in control of the postal company, it is required to inject hundreds of millions of shekels every few years to regulate the company’s activities.
Simultaneously with the implementation of the privatization outline, the Ministry of Communications and the Ministry of Finance will work to update the regulation on the postal market and the postal company, as part of the amendment to the Postal Law currently being discussed in the Economics Committee. The proposed reform includes expanding competition in the field of letter sending, stimulating the transition to digitization, changing the method of price control, reducing regulation and higher fines for violations of license provisions.
Communications Minister Yoaz Handel: “Ever since I took office, I have been warned not to touch the mail. One communications minister after another refrained from touching this hot potato. Today we are embarking on a new path in the postal market in Israel. Open to competition, lower regulation, and bring historic reform in the mail. The letter market is fading and the parcel market is growing, and in this reality we are making a big change today that will bring Israeli citizens a new era of quality, efficient and advanced postal services. As I did in the communications infrastructure when we returned Israel to a path of huge investment in infrastructure, it is time for the postal services to undergo a change. We will act with no common sense and in cooperation with the dedicated employees. “Thank you to the Minister of Finance Lieberman for the joint work in implementing this reform.”
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