February the 13th, 2022 - The yet-to-be-opened Kukuljanovo logistics centre near the City of Rijeka on the Northern Adriatic is the result of yet more investments made by Croatian post (Hrvatska posta), of which there have been several lately.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Darko Bicak writes, after spending the cash of an an investment cycle totalling almost one billion kuna over the last five years, most of which went to building new and modernising existing logistics capacities, Croatian Post (HP) is about to open the new Kukuljanovo logistics centre (LC) in the Kukuljanovo industrial zone near Rijeka. The facility is worth 60 million kuna, and it should be in operation in around one month.

Prerequisites for further growth

Croatian post explained that in the previous period, their logistics space in the City of Osijek was expanded, a new logistics centre was built in Zadar, capacities in Bjelovar were expanded and a new sorting centre was built in Velika Gorica near Zagreb, which, totalling a massive 350 million kuna, is the largest investment in Croatian post's history.

According to them, the Kukuljanovo logistics centre with its 5,000 square meters of business space is the final point of investment in infrastructure, which created the preconditions for further logistical growth and development of the company.

“The new Kukuljanovo logistics centre is an important link when it comes to raising the quality and speed of providing our services to all residents who gravitate to this area - Gorski kotar, Istria, Kvarner... Infrastructural investments in the network of sorting plants will have a favourable effect on the overall development of the logistics market across Croatia.

All of the locations of modern sorting plants are strategically selected and are placed in locations that are well connected in terms of traffic and are in line with logistics trends. In the past, such facilities were located in the centres of large cities, and today they're placed on the outskirts along important traffic routes.

The number of locations where the operational part of the shipment business, such as sorting and processing, is performed, while not reducing the number of post offices available, is in more than 800 settlements with a network of 1,016 post offices,'' they said from Croatian post, headed by Ivan Culo.

"With this investment in the Kukuljanovo logistics centre, we're completing this cycle of investments in logistics and logistics infrastructure in accordance with the development strategy. Employees, green energy and digital development are the direction we're heading in. Investing in logistics and sorting capacities, the digitalisation of processes and the ‘last mile’ in the form of a network of parcel machines has brought us to a completely equal position of the leading EU postal operators. We're no longer a trend-following post office, but an equal partner. Global e-commerce retailers recognised us before the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic, and we've justified their trust in us over the last two years,'' Culo added.

In order to be in the trend of the EU Green Agenda, the Kukuljanovo logistics centre will have a solar power plant installed on its roof.

An explosion of logistical needs

The growth of e-commerce and especially Croatia's accession to the European Union (EU) has led to an explosion of logistical needs in this country. The entire logistics sector had to find a solution in a relatively short time and radically change its established ways of meeting the needs of both private and business users.

The situation was further accentuated by the global coronavirus pandemic, and for many people, online shopping and the delivery of goods to their doors has become a substitute for going out shopping in the classic way, ie going to the store. Solutions for the "new normal" do of course exist, but they aren't cheap or fast.

The fact that the transformation of Croatian post, through investments in new technology and infrastructure, has been recognised, is confirmed by the fact that some of the largest Internet retailers, such as Amazon, AboutYou and many others have chosen them for their services in Croatia and the wider region. It's worth noting that Croatian post processes Amazon shipments even for Greece and Cyprus.

For more, make sure to check out our business section.

January the 20th, 2022 - Croatian Post (Hrvatska posta) has apparently been introducing brand new services in order to up its game left, right and centre of late, and yet another new one has been launched. Aircash app payments can now be made in more than 1000 post offices across the country.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Lucija Spiljak writes, from now on, customers can pay for goods and services carried out by Croatian Post in a total of 1,016 post offices with Aircash app payments, ie through the very first Croatian digital wallet which was and continues to be a roaring success on the domestic market.

In addition to following the trends and habits of consumers and customers in order to keep the existing ones and attract new ones, Croatian Post says that they want to strengthen their role of "a leader in the digitalisation of business in Croatia."

“Each of our post offices has a prominent QR code on the counters that the user of the Aircash application should read on his mobile phone when paying for something. You can pay for the retail range digitally in our post offices (except for HAC ENC vouchers, e-vouchers from mobile operators and lottery tickets), for all postal services, Paket24 express delivery services and philatelic products,'' they explained from Croatian Post.

Aircash is otherwise the fastest growing Croatian fintech with more than 200,000 active users based in Croatia alone, and it offers its users the ability to pay for items and withdraw cash through the application. This move in which Aircash app payments will be allowed for a range of Croatian Post's services will certainly appeal to many.

They are also registered with the European Banking Authority (EBA), which is the umbrella regulator and gives them the right to do business across all European Union (EU) member states. In addition to being very much present here in Croatia, they are available in neighbouring Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Spain and Romania, with plans to spread their wings even further across the bloc.

For more, check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

January the 7th, 2022 - Croatian post (Hrvatska posta) has been in the news on and off for very positive reasons and because of the innovation it has introduced over recent months. This brand new Croatian post service isn't common even in far more developed European countries.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Lucija Spiljak writes, instead of sending certain types of mail to people's home addresses, senders can now send registered items via digital channels for the first time thanks to yet another brand new and modern Croatian post service.

This is the new eDelivery project successfully implemented by Croatian Post, the Ministry of Justice and Administration and the IT company Sedam IT. The project developed and implemented a solution for the delivery of electronic documents to individuals and legal entities, which is in line with the eIDAS regulation of the European Union (EU).

"Croatian Post is continuing with its digital transformation. This project is a novelty that is not so well represented in the EU, which places us at the very top of the EU countries that are certified for this type of service. This is a fully certified, secure channel. The registered shipment that we have today in physical form is moving towards a more secure digital environment, which upon receipt is confirmed by a digital signature,'' explained Ivan Culo, President of the Management Board of Croatian Post.

Sedam IT was responsible for the development and design of the software and other key software components of this new Croatian Post service, and they created a communication channel that enabled the connection of Croatian Post's IT system and the Ministry of Justice and Administration through which electronic documents are transferred, all according to stringent EU standards.

The total value of the eDelivery project stands at 310,000 euros, and 75 percent of the amount was co-financed by various grants from the Connecting Europe Facility.

For more, check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

January the 6th, 2022 - Hrvatska postanska banka (HPB) and Hrvatska posta (Croatian post) have come together and signed a framework agreement on strategic partnership, all done with the aim of improving things for their end customers and clients.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, HPB and Croatian Post decided to put their heads together for the benefit of their many customers and clients and as such signed a new Framework Agreement on Strategic Partnership and Outsourcing back on the 31st of December 2021 with the primary aim of improving the level of the customer service they both offer.

The strategic partnership between HPB and Croatian Post and the implementation of the useful ''Bank at the Post Office'' project has as such created the largest business network offering banking services to individuals in the smallest and most remote places across the country, and back in 2020, this project was expanded to provide banking services in this manner to business users as well.

Thanks to this decision on forming a strategic partnership, individuals have now have the possibility to make Croatian kuna payment transactions and contract and use the aforementioned bank's products and services across 1,016 post offices, and services are available to business entities at 987 different locations, scattered across the country.

In this regard, the ''Bank at the Post Office'' project has made banking business accessible to all those across the Republic of Croatia who didn't, at least until now, have the necessary services close to their places of residence and within their local communities, which is also the greatest value of this unique and praiseworthy project.

In this context, the preparation of the Framework Agreement was extremely demanding, given that it is a complex legal and business process that is extensively regulated and subject to strict regulatory provisions, despite all of the red tape, HPB and Croatian Post succeeded.

For more, check out our dedicated business section.

November the 14th, 2021 - Croatian Post (Hrvatska posta/HP) has been bringing out various new services and offers for its users over the last year or so, and there's yet another one now on offer. Croatian Post cryptocurrency buying and selling options have now been widened.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Croatian Post has expanded its service to buying and selling cryptocurrencies in line with more modern, cashless times, which can now be bought or sold at more than 50 selected post offices covering all Croatian counties, the company reported on Friday.

Post offices can currently do business with as many as eleven different cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ripple, Stellar, Ether, Eos, Bitcoin Cash, Dai, USDT, USD Coin, Polkadot and Kusama, Croatian Post said in a statement, adding that around two years ago they also introduced the cryptocurrency purchase service in selected post offices.

"With the introduction of the option to purchase cryptocurrencies, selected post offices have become central locations for doing business with cryptocurrencies in many places in Croatia. The exchange of cryptocurrencies is carried out in cooperation with the Croatian company Electrocoin, which successfully runs the bitcoin-mjenjacnica.hr service,'' it was pointed out.

Croatian Post noted that Crypto Centre, a special website that brings together all of the Croatian Post cryptocurrency services and offers, is also fully available to customers.

The website contains an exchange rate list, information on buying and selling the desired cryptocurrency and an interactive map with the addresses of post offices throughout the country where this service is available. In addition, crypto-stamps can be bought on it, and as they pointed out from the company, this is another novelty with which they connected Croatian Post with the latest technological trends, ie the NFT market.

All three issues of cryptocurrencies that were put into circulation had a total of 3,000 exclusive copies that could only be purchased in cryptocurrencies and which were sold out in the meantime, and cryptocurrencies can be purchased in larger post offices and on epostshop.hr.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated business section.

July the 3rd, 2021 - Croatian Post staff have had their hands full trying to cope with the European Union's new rules on packages being sent into the bloc from third countries which came into force at the beginning of this month.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Darko Bicak writes, Croatian Post Variety Centre (HP) in Velika Gorica near Zagreb was ready and waiting to welcome the first day of the application of the new EU regulations which abolish the tax relief for the import of small value shipments from third countries. The sorting plant even worked at a reduced capacity because they shipped all shipments the day before, as they themselves point out, so as not to put their customers at a disadvantage.

Infrastructure

As Kresimir Domjancic, Head of HP Corporate Communications, explained, the biggest change occurred with the IT infrastructure that is now connected to the customs services of all EU countries, Croatian Post staff now only have to scan delivery notes into the system.

"Although we've selected shipments to those from the internal market and those from third countries so far, now everything will be even more detailed because all shipments from third countries must pass the customs procedure for VAT collection. Most of the work is being done by our employees in the process of control of such shipments, for which we charge a fee of 18.50 kuna for shipments worth up to 150 euros and 37 kuna for those ranging from 150 to a thousand euros,'' said Domjancic.

He pointed out that by midnight on June the 30th, Croatian Post staff had already shipped all shipments from the sorting plant, whether they were from the internal market or third countries, but that it may happen that some customers who ordered goods several weeks ago still have to pay VAT and processing costs according to the new EU regulations because the shipments entered the sorting and processing procedure only after the date on which the new rules came into force.

“People often blame us for the delay in delivery because trackers show them that their shipment has arrived in the destination country. Very often this isn't inaccurate in showing the estimated time of arrival, and even more often, that the goods have arrived in a warehouse in the internal market somewhere in Germany, France or the Netherlands. However, in such cases, it's common practice for the shipping company to need to wait a couple of days, sometimes weeks, to fill a container, truck or plane to Croatia,'' explained Domjancic.

He added that in the coming days, the procedure on who pays VAT and customs and where that happens will have to be harmonised because it is possible to arrange it so that the seller pays in advance, it's paid for when entering the EU market or it's paid for in the destination country, such as Croatia.

Ivan Plazanic, head of the International Shipping Department at Croatian Post, explained that a total of 110 employees deal with this in the sorting room, 12 of whom work the night shift, because the department works 24 hours a day, 25 work during the afternoon and about 60 work the morning shift.

"Due to the new regulations and the expected increase in the volume of work, we hired eight new people. We also have a model for Croatian Post staff from the administration department to come to our aid during any crisis,'' Plazanic stated, adding that the first day of the new regime was a bit surprising because their warehouse was left unusually empty, which is partly attributed to the indecision of customers due to the new regime, but also because of the summer season.

Coronavirus induced issues

''The coronavirus crisis has disrupted our normal business a lot because we can no longer estimate when we'll have a certain amount of work. This applies in particular to border blockades and irregular air traffic. Before, we knew exactly when a cargo was coming to us, and now it's often sudden or delayed,'' pointed out Plazanic. About five million shipments from third countries, most often from China, pass through this department annually.

Melita Buljan from the Customs Administration confirmed that in the first hours of the new procedure, there were no problems or additional burdens because most of the challenges had already been solved by IT support.

For more, follow our lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 20 June, 2021 - The coronavirus pandemic has continued to adversely affect the Croatian postal services market, with the number of postal services provided in the first quarter of this year dropping to 70 million or by nearly 8% compared with the same period in 2020, the HAKOM regulator said.

HAKOM said that the volume of all postal services, except express parcels relating to online shopping, had declined in the first quarter, noting that, compared with the fourth quarter of 2020, the volume of express parcel delivery services had also fallen, by 3.1%.

The fall was mainly due to the distribution of printed matter, which declined by 20% compared with Q4 2020 and by 28% compared with Q1 2020.

The fall in the number of services provided also affected revenues, which dropped by 5% compared with Q4 and rose by 10% compared with Q1 2020. HAKOM said that the increase was due to a 23% rise in the delivery of express parcels relating to online shopping and an increase in prices of some of the so-called universal services.

The number of postal service providers on the Croatian market has remained the same. At the end of the first quarter of this year, these services were provided by 23 companies, among which Croatian Post (HP) remains the largest, with an 84.1% share in total turnover.

For more about Croatia, CLICK HERE.

May the 7th, 2021 - The Croatian postal service, Croatian Post/Hrvatska posta has set out to explain the differences between using their company's standardised packaging and boxes customers have lying around at home following talk of price increases.

As Darko Bicak/Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the price of sending packages has remained the same for all users who use standardised packaging when sending mail through the Croatian postal service, whether they're branded Croatian Post boxes or any which happened to be owned at home, Croatian Post explained when asked to clarify speculations that people sending packages in their own boxes from home could end up being twice as expensive when compared to those shipped in a standardised Croatian Post/HP box.

However, they also explained that with the increase in the price of the universal service of sending packages weighing up to 10 kilograms, a discount in the same amount for the use of packaging of standard dimensions was introduced in parallel.

“Shipments and packages that aren't adequately packaged or deviate in size from the standard measures create significant costs across all segments of the delivery process - from receipt, sorting, to the very transportation to delivery. Shipments that aren't properly packaged are much more difficult to pass through automated systems and they end up slowing down the sorting process and making it difficult to make maximum use of space in the post office and in our vehicles. In addition, shipments of non-standard dimensions more often cause problems during transport and damage other shipments, which, in addition to increased costs, also affects the quality of service and customer satisfaction with our services. For example, an inadequately packaged bottle of oil or wine that breaks, damages other shipments as well,'' said Jo Kempen, the executive director of the Croatian postal service's Corporate Communications Office.

Croatian Post added that the standardisation of packages is a practice carried out by all logistics distributors in the European Union (EU) and as a result it has a faster and higher quality of service for customers. Standard boxes can be purchased at post offices or other stores that sell the company's packaging. If users send items in such boxes, their own or purchased at the post office, the final price for them doesn't actually change, meaning that it will remain the same as it was before May the 1st this year, they emphasised from the Croatian postal service.

The dimensions of standardised boxes that can be purchased at Croatian post offices can be found by clicking here.

For more, follow our lifestyle section.

April the 18th, 2021 - Croatian Post has had to adapt a lot of its business operations as the pandemic rages on, and among the innovations it has introduced over the last year or so include the placing of 150 devices across the country to help out customers.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, numerous residents of Rijeka and its surroundings have been able to notice Croatian Post's multiple parcel machines set up at four locations in the vicinity of the city over recent days. The move is part of one of the key projects introduced by Croatian Post, which will install 150 parcel machines throughout Croatia by May, Novi list writes.

As part of this 108 million kuna investment, Croatian Post will install a total of 300 parcel machines by the end of next year, and this trend, while novel in Croatia, has been popular in various European Union countries for some time now and is well accepted and liked among users, as they pointed out from Croatian Post.

They noted that "the installation of parcel machines means that we will no longer depend on the date set by the courier, but we will choose how and when to pick up the shipment."

''Package machines will be available every day of the week, 24 hours per day, and Croatian Post users will be able to pick up and send their packages at a time that suits them best, but also to return goods purchased through e-shops.

The installation of parcel machines is accompanied by the recent launch of a new self-service portal that will give recipients the ability to manage their parcels and shipments, and users will be able to redirect their packages depending on the location that suits them best at any given time.

For more on Croatian post and other domestic companies, make sure to follow our dedicated business section.

April the 13th, 2021 - Croatian Post (Hrvatska posta) has made several changes to how it functions and what it offers over the last year or so, and with the coronavirus pandemic continuing to rage on, they have introduced yet another option for their customers, this time relating to deliveries.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Croatian Post introduced a novelty in its service when it comes to the delivery of packages and shipments. Namely, they will begin delivering packages on Saturdays, once a month and as needed. The company's postmen will therefore work on Saturdays in the cities and places where and when the influx of shipments and parcels has increased.

They say that the working Saturdays will see the postmen properly paid and that their goal is to raise the level of the services they provide because their customers are paramount, RTL news reports.

''Our goal is to raise the level of our service to an even higher level than prescribed because our customers are our primary focus,'' said Jo Kempen, the director of Croatian Post’s Corporate Communications Office.

Working on Saturdays is not the only novel service introduction from Croatian Post when it comes to delivering packages. The country's postal service has also started testing the "package machine" which will greatly facilitate the lives of all customers, users and suppliers by making things easier.

Otherwise, this sort of new Croatian Post service is far from now, and it has proven to be a hit in several countries, especially during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic when everything has slowed down and become somewhat problematic for both customers and those dealing with post.

For more on Croatian companies, make sure to follow our dedicated business section.