Currently, Omniva operates 57 post offices across Estonia. By the end of July, this number is set to decrease by ten, leaving 47 post offices in operation.

For example, Omniva will be closing post offices in Põltsamaa, Sindi, Paldiski, Pähklimäe in Narva, Tallinn's Mustamäe and Nõmme districts and in Tartu at Raadi and Lõunakeskus.

In some locations, such as Kehra and Loksa, post offices will be converted into postal points, meaning packages and letters can be sent via local libraries or shops.

Excluding these closures, there will not be significant changes to universal postal services, such as letter sending and delivery, for customers this year.

This year, Omniva will focus on improving delivery routes to ensure that more mail can be delivered by the same courier and that couriers can concentrate more on package delivery.

Omniva CEO Mart Mägi stated that the company is testing various delivery models to see if periodicals, direct mail and letters can be delivered at the same time.

"We are already doing this in rural areas, but primarily in urban areas where we have early morning deliveries. We are determining what the optimal delivery model will be, and how much a single courier can handle," Mägi told ERR. "We are also testing different vehicles. For example, we are using new electric cars and bicycles, and we are evaluating which are the most efficient. We want to determine how quickly we can carry out these tasks without compromising service quality."

Significant changes to the universal postal service, specifically in home letter delivery, are expected next year once politicians pass the new postal law.

Currently, letter delivery must be affordable for consumers. However, in the future, Omniva hopes that the price will be cost-based, which means sending letters could become several cents more expensive. Additionally, letters may not need to be delivered five times a week and could be delivered less frequently.

"Whether the letter arrives today or tomorrow, consumers today do not have the expectation of same-day delivery," Mägi said.

"In Estonia, only 1.2 million letters are sent domestically each year, of which 900,000 are Christmas cards. We will certainly deliver Christmas cards to everyone by Christmas. The price of this service will undoubtedly increase in the future as we move to a cost-based model, but we don't foresee it rising so much that people will stop sending letters altogether. We're talking about an increase of only a few dozen cents," Mägi added.

Earlier this year, Omniva announced that it would lay off 75 positions in Estonia due to declining parcel volumes and extended supply chains, which have increased the company's costs.

Mägi stated that there are no plans for additional layoffs at the moment.

"We carried out the major layoffs in the first quarter. In Estonia, we had a collective layoff, reducing our workforce by about 250 people. We don't have plans for further large-scale layoffs, but through the optimization of delivery routes, we will definitely change which postal couriers serve which areas," Mägi explained.

According to Mägi, this means that in the future, fewer couriers might be needed in cities to deliver the same amount of mail, whether letters or packages. "Yes, or those couriers can focus more on package delivery. The number of people may not decrease, but the number of couriers delivering mail will certainly decrease," he said.

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