There should be only one entry point for consumers — Russian Post. All private marketplaces will also have to operate through it, and, according to the government's logic, they'll even have to pay for the privilege.
Photo: Olga Kovalski via Unsplash
After the 2025 New Year holidays, Russian Post faced a massive outflow of staff. According to the Telegram channel Mash, about 5% of employees left the company. They predict that up to 60,000 employees could lose their jobs by the end of 2026 — postmen, operators, and branch managers.
Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko described the situation as critical. Employees are leaving due to low salaries and poor working conditions, she said. “How much longer can we chew over this topic? This can't go on, it's impossible. Otherwise soon everyone will run away from there. Salaries are low, conditions are [bad], and so on,” said Matvienko, commenting on the speech of the first deputy chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Economic Policy Ivan Abramov about systemic problems in the state company. Particular concern is caused by post offices in villages and small towns. “We can't let this situation slide any further,” the Federation Council Speaker protested.
Huge and unwieldy, perpetually being reformed, Russian Post is on paper the country's largest logistics network — it has nearly 40,000 branches, about 27,000 of which are located in rural and remote settlements. However, most branches “operate at a loss and serve only a social mission”, said recently Russian Post's head Mikhail Volkov in an interview with RBC.
At the end of 2025, the company's net losses amounted to 18.7 billion rubles. Revenue fell by 4 billion rubles over the year (to 215 billion), and gross profit fell by 1.1 billion rubles (to 8.1 billion).
At the other end of Russian reality, the marketplaces Wildberries and Ozon have long been in charge. They don't just sell: they've built a parallel logistics universe — fast and efficient.
Trying to save the situation, Russia's Ministry of Digital Development on March 25 sent the government a bill on measures to support Russian Post. If the document is adopted, marketplaces will be required to open pick-up points in post offices and operate under new rules, while licensing requirements for operators will be tightened. Their charter capital must be at least 5 million rubles, their own funds must range from 1 billion to 2 billion rubles, and financial risk coverage must be from 100 million to 200 million rubles. The state fee for the federal level will be 100 million rubles, for the regional level — 10 million, for the local level — 1 million, while Russian Post itself will be exempt from the fee. Licenses will be issued for ten years.
In addition, the bill will grant Russian Post the status of an authorized organization with the right to access mailboxes in apartment buildings.
The Association for Cross-Border E-Commerce and Express Delivery (ATED) has already responded quickly and nervously to the initiative. There, they believe its goal is to restrict logistics companies' access to the internet delivery market. According to the association, the bill contradicts the principles of economic freedom and contains vague wording that has not been properly discussed with experts.
“We understand and support efforts to strengthen the national postal operator, but not at the cost of revolutionary changes, but through thoughtful, systemic work on postal legislation and Russian Post's development strategy,” ATED head Vladimir Solodkin explained to Forbes.
Otherwise, up to 80% of private players may leave the market, and those who remain will have to restructure their business processes without any guarantee of improved service quality, the association believes.
Saving the drowning Russian Post could mean the demise of almost the entire fleet, driving a vibrant competitive market into an inefficient and crumbling state infrastructure.
The Association of Internet Trading Companies (AKIT), which includes Ozon, Wildberries, and Magnit among others, also appealed to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin to reconsider the bill on postal industry reform and to abandon additional financial levies on market players.
Today, the Russian delivery market has two levels: the urban one, mainly controlled by the marketplaces Wildberries and Ozon through their own and partner pick-up points, and the rural one, maintained by Russian Post through its branches. In this system, it makes no sense to talk about market competition in the classical sense. These are different models for managing the same process — the route of a product from the time it is ordered by the buyer to its actual receipt. It's all about managing the so-called last mile — the most expensive and complex stage of delivery. After all, transporting a shipment for several hundred or even thousands of kilometers is a routine task that's relatively easy to accomplish, but distributing numerous routes to customers requires a much more careful approach and calculation.
How this system develops with Russian Post in its new role will determine whether this route remains stable, predictable, and equally functional for everyone. In a negative scenario, the network will turn into a set of disconnected points, where the supposedly unified infrastructure works with varying degrees of reliability. But that's not all. Because whoever controls the last mile, controls everything. The last mile is not just about delivery, but also about data: how often and what the customer orders, how often they refuse, where it's more convenient for them to pick up goods, how they react to deadlines, discounts, and prices, how their consumer behavior changes — all of which gives a much more accurate picture of the customer than any survey or questionnaire. Because these are real actions.
If marketplaces use personal data to optimize sales and keep users within their ecosystem, then the state, by gaining such control through Russian Post, could potentially define and control much more.
Russian authorities have long been trying to establish control over the internet's last mile, which connects the provider and the end consumer of content. The tools are well known: TSPU, the list of banned sites, “white lists“, MAX and blocking. The Ministry of Digital Development's bill is an attempt to transfer the same model into the world of goods consumption, to install the same kind of “TSPU equipment” in the form of Russian Post and make it the single, state-controlled entry point for physical consumption.
It's not just the delivery market that's changing. The architecture of control over everyday life is changing — quietly and almost imperceptibly, through familiar actions: order, wait, receive.
If you enjoyed this article, consider making a donation — one-time or, even better, monthly. Your support helps us motivate our authors and become better with every article.
Our organization is recognized by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, charitable organization, which means that all contributions made to us are tax-deductible to the fullest extent permitted by U.S. law. Individuals may generally deduct charitable contributions of up to 60% of their Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) for cash donations made to qualifying 501(c)(3) organizations. For donations of appreciated assets (such as stocks or other long-term capital assets), the deduction is typically limited to 30% of AGI, based on the fair market value of the asset. C-corporations may deduct charitable contributions of up to 10% of their taxable income for donations made to eligible charitable organizations.
By submitting a donation, you confirm that you have read and accept the following documents: Privacy Policy and User Agreement, and also give consent to the processing of your personal data.
If you would like to unsubscribe from a monthly donation, please email us at: [email protected]
