The CEO of the Hellenic Post (ELTA) Grigoris Sklikas submitted his resignation on Tuesday following the controversy over the closure of 204 post office branches throughout Greece and a stormy conference with dozens of ruling New Democracy lawmakers the previous day.
Sklikas was appointed CEO of ELTA two and a half years ago with the purpose of restructuring the company.
“Over the last 2.5 years, I have worked with determination and strategic planning to address the complex challenges of the organization, as well as the rapid decline of the postal market, a phenomenon observed internationally and more intensely in our country,” Sklikas noted among others in his resignation letter to the Superfund.
He added that despite the efforts, the main problem remains: the loss of over 90% of postal turnover was not accompanied by a corresponding adjustment of the branch structure and operating costs, with the organization remaining financially unviable, despite the fact that it should have been operating based on private-sector economic criteria since 2013.
“However, the recent reactions from various sides – and mainly from Members of Parliament representing their regions – led me to the conclusion that the necessary dialogue for the implementation of this plan is becoming extremely difficult,” he noted.
The decision for the closure of 204 branches of the Hellenic Post, some 40% of its branches in total, was announced last Friday and in effect from Monday, November 4 , apparently out of the blue, and triggered an outrage especially in local communities outside the urban centers, where post offices have more duties than packages and letters, but also cash payment of pensions or “bank” services.
Due to the strong reactions, the ELTA announced on Monday to close only branches in Athens and other big cities and postpone the closure of the remaining branches for three months.
Also this decision did not satisfy neither the public nor the lawmakers.
The government appeared to be caught by surprise from the closure decision, but it did not convince anyone that it had no idea about the ELTA CEO plans.
Worth noting that first of all it was the Finance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakis to supported the closure plan just hours after the announcement.
Now the government accuses the CEO that he did not properly “communicate” the closure.
The case of ELTA is another example of government policies where public institutions are being downgraded and anything but modernized and left to rotten until their closure or their fragments are sold out.
 Grigoris Sklikas submitted his resignation on Tuesday following the controversy over the closure of 204 po){kind=link}