They Call to Reject Amendments to the Postal Law 0 12

In this regard, the association calls on the Saeima to reject the planned amendments to the Postal Law. According to the organization, such an approach limits competition, potentially depriving society of the opportunity to receive a better quality service at a lower price, as well as creating risks of inefficient use of public funds and not aligning with good European practice.

The association emphasizes that the universal postal service (UPS) is important for society — it ensures the availability of basic postal services at an acceptable price across the country. That is why the choice of the service provider should be made in an open competitive process that allows for comparing offers and selecting the most effective solution.

"Competition is not an end in itself; it is a tool that allows society to receive higher quality services at competitive prices. If a competition is not held, it is impossible to understand whether the chosen solution is truly the best for taxpayers," said the public relations manager of the Association of Postal Merchants, Janis Andzans.

He also noted that the principle of legal certainty must be taken into account: companies operating in the postal services sector have invested in infrastructure, relying on a competition to be held after the current contract expires. The decision to cancel or postpone this process without objective reasons undermines trust in the actions of the state and the investment environment as a whole.

In light of the above, the association urges the Saeima to adhere to the fundamental principle enshrined in the Postal Law — the provider of the universal postal service must be determined through a competitive process.

The Saeima's Committee on Economic, Agricultural, Environmental and Regional Policy plans to consider the amendments to the law in the second reading on Tuesday.

As previously reported by LETA, at the end of November 2025, the Saeima supported the idea of extending the obligations to provide the UPS to the enterprise "Latvijas pasts" for two years — until December 31, 2028.

The Postal Law stipulates that the provider of the UPS is chosen through a competitive process. The Ministry of Transport explains that in 2026, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) should organize a competition to determine the provider of the UPS for a five-year term — from January 1, 2027, to December 31, 2031.

However, discussions continue at the European Union level regarding the need to revise postal regulation in light of changes in the market. The ministry indicates that if the process of developing amendments begins, it is possible that the new regulation will differ from the current law, so transitional provisions must be included in the Postal Law to allow for the extension of UPS obligations without a competition — only for two years.

Thus, it is planned to extend the UPS obligations from January 1, 2027, without a competition to the postal operator that is fulfilling them until December 31, 2026. According to the decision of the PUC, the obligations for the UPS from January 1, 2022, until the end of 2026 are assigned to "Latvijas pasts."

The ministry emphasizes that over the past five years, there have been repeated expressions of significant changes in the industry at various forums, and that the current EU Postal Directive no longer corresponds to real conditions.

Meanwhile, an analysis of the future postal sector was conducted at the request of the European Commission. In all scenarios of the study, the need to revise the current regulation is recognized. Although the EC's work plan for 2025 does not include a revision of the directive, a strategy for the single market, including in the postal sector, was published in May of this year. In this regard, it is planned to begin developing a new regulatory act in the fourth quarter of 2026 that will replace the postal directive.

The UPS is a minimum set of postal services of a certain quality available to all users in Latvia at uniform rates, regardless of their geographical location. The UPS provider is obliged to ensure the delivery of domestic and international correspondence and parcels, as well as the delivery of subscription press. Postal service rates are approved by the PUC.