2023-05-06 09:28:47
Since the beginning of the discovery of possible irregularities at bpost, the management had been discreet. The chairman of the board of directors and the interim CEO of the company spoke this Thursday at the start of the evening at a press conference organized remotely.
Audrey Hanard, the president of the board of directors presented the three files, the three contracts, for which questions of regularity arise. This is the press concession, ie the contract that bpost obtained from the State to distribute newspapers. It is also about the treasury function of the State accounts, a function that bpost has fulfilled since 1912. Finally, it is about a contract which concerns European license plates. These three contracts represent revenue of 104 million euros.
The common points of these three contracts are the fact that they are public tenders, the involvement of the same protagonists, i.e. the people in charge of these files at bpost and the presence of the same competitors. For these files, there are indications that the amounts collected by bpost are too high. Nothing says at this point that it is illegal. “It was not said that the current margins applied were illegal, but that they are problematic“, explained the leaders of bpost. Indeed, the fact that these contracts are “ethical” also weighs in the balance. “We want to remain a reliable partner for the State, for the citizens“, said Audrey Hanard and “an ethical partner“.
As we have said, bpost has warned that it expects these contracts to cause it to lose 25 to 50 million euros in 2023. At this stage, it is impossible to specify this amount or to know when the ‘ business will be fixed on this one. “That takes time“, “the legal framework of these three contracts is extremely complex“, said Philippe Dartienne, CEO of bpost.
The 25 to 50 million euros only concern the year 2023. Depending on the results of the ongoing audits, it would be possible to go back up to 10 years, “in the most pessimistic scenario“, specified Philippe Dartienne.
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