Czech Post has published a list of branches to be closed, 35 will be reduced in Prague

Czech Post has today published a list of 300 branches that will be closed by the middle of the year. 35 branches will be closed in Prague, 19 in Ostrava and 12 each in Brno and Plzeň. Most post offices will close in the Moravian-Silesian region, 48 in total, followed by the capital and 27 in the Ústí nad Labem region. This is followed by the Central Bohemian Region with 24 branches being closed, the South Moravian Region with 23 and the Pilsen Region with 22. This is according to information on the Czech Post website.

The Post Office selected the closed branches according to the number of clients, the number of transactions, the economic profitability of its operation and criteria important from the client's point of view, such as barrier-free access or accessibility to public transport. The Post Office wants to reduce its losses by this step. Last year it amounted to CZK 1.5 billion. If it had not taken austerity measures, it would have ended up in insolvency this year.

"The long-term trend in demand for traditional postal services is down. Over the past five years, demand for these services at branches has fallen by 40 per cent. This is due to digitalisation, which has made it possible to arrange many services not by visiting a post office in person but in an online environment. The Czech Telecommunications Office has therefore reflected these changes and adjusted the parameters of branch layout in its standards. Now, every municipality with a population of over 2,500 inhabitants does not have to have a post office within a walking distance of two kilometres, but now within three kilometres," said Matyáš Vitík, spokesman for the post office.

The post office currently has to operate at least 3,200 branches under a government regulation, but the new regulation, which reduces the number of branches to 2,900, is likely to be discussed by the government next week. The Post Office will hand out notice to about 1,600 employees out of a total of about 25,000 in connection with the reduction in the number of branches. Management is due to discuss the dismissals with the unions in the first half of April.

According to Post Office CEO Miroslav Štěpán, the Post Office is not closing branches in municipalities where there is only one post office. At the same time, the reduction of the branch network does not affect the Partner post offices, of which there are currently 819 throughout the Czech Republic.

The branches that will be newly available for clients whose post office has been closed will ensure sufficient capacity to serve them. According to Štěpán, all the post offices operated by the Czech Post are capable of providing the required standard of service. At the busiest post offices, of which there are 400, it is possible to make an appointment for a specific time and service just one hour before a scheduled visit to the branch. Customers can use a total of 7,625 parcel offices and self-service drop-off boxes across the country to send and receive parcels.

Mayors of municipalities and mayors of towns where some of the branches are to be closed will be personally explained the situation by Czech Post representatives, they will justify the choice of the branches to be closed and will discuss with them the future provision of postal services in their town.

The closure of the post offices is one of the first steps in the planned transformation of the company. Within two years, it is to be split into a state-owned operator of the branch network, which will provide basic postal and financial services, and a commercial parcel and logistics operator in the form of a public limited company.

Number of cancellations in each region:
Hlavní město Praha - 35
Jihočeský - 18
Jihomoravský - 23
Karlovarský - 14
Královéhradecký - 16
Liberecký - 13
Moravskoslezský - 48
Olomoucký - 20
Pardubický - 17
Plzeňský - 22
Středočeský - 24
Ústecký - 27
Vysočina - 9
Zlínský - 13

Source: Czech Post and CTK