The state-owned Romanian Post will start to distribute passports to individuals on April 1 after it won a contract with an estimated value of some EUR 111,000. Over the next two years, the national postal service will send Romanians up to 45,000 travel documents.

The Romanian Post participated in early-February in the bidding procedure the General Directorate of Passports organized. The institution carried it out online, and the national postal company bid against two of the largest private couriers in Romania. So far, Romanians were only able to pick up their passports in person from their respective local passport issuing unit.

The Romanian Post is majority owned by the state, via the Ministry for Information Society (75%) while investment fund Fondul Proprietatea holds the rest.

Last year, the company contributed with EUR 87.8 million to the state budget. It has the largest nationwide distribution network, meaning over 80% of all postal subunits operating currently in Romania.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com

(photo source: posta-romana.ro)