Bpost estimates that the government paid 75 million euros too much for three contracts | Economy

The investigations were started after it emerged that in addition to the newspaper contract, bpost also made mistakes with other government contracts. The bottom line is that the government has paid too much for three postal services: the processing of traffic fines, the management of the so-called 679 accounts (these are government bank accounts; ed.) and the supply and cancellation of license plates.

Bpost had previously communicated that these services were not provided in line with the law and had also released a provisional estimate of the financial impact for this year. Those investigations have now been completed. “They reveal malpractice in which a limited number of people inside and outside the company have acted contrary to applicable regulations, without adequate supervision,” it said.

The largest file of the three concerns the management of traffic fines. The compensation that bpost received for this may partly be seen as unlawful state aid. This also applies to the 679 accounts.

All together, bpost records a provision of 75 million euros to repay overcompensation for the three services in recent years. This is a provisional amount. It is now up to the Belgian government to determine whether it agrees. It is “unlikely” that there will be certainty about the final amount this year, current interim CEO Philippe Dartienne admits.

For this year, bpost also assumes a negative impact on EBIT profit (that is the profit before interest and taxes) of 10 million euros. That is less than the April estimate. At that time, the group still assumed an impact of 25 to 50 million euros. The total bill amounts to 85 million euros.

Fourteen bpost employees – at different levels – were found to be involved in the uncovered irregularities. The collaboration with eight people was ended. Other people involved had already left the company before the investigations.

“The transition towards openness is underway at bpost,” responds Minister of Public Enterprises Petra De Sutter (Green). “That was clearly different for years. Together with the arrival of the new CEO, there is now a momentum in which transparency and deontology are gaining the upper hand.”

“The new CEO (Chris Peeters, ed.) will build on this. Only with openness can a new culture take shape. “For the autonomous public company bpost, the trust of its customers and stakeholders is its most important asset,” it says.

The minister adds that it is now up to the various ministers who concluded the contracts in question with bpost. “It is up to them to see how they proceed and what possible steps they will take.”

Jean-Marc Delizée (PS), the chairman of the competent parliamentary committee, invites the chairwoman of bpost and the chairwoman of the audit committee to come and provide explanations in parliament in the first week of October. He also insists that bpost makes both the internal audit reports and the related documents available to the House committee.