Periodicals vs Posta Moldovei

“The dogs may bark, but the caravan moves on.” This is probably what officials from the state-owned enterprise Posta Moldovei [Post of Moldova] told themselves years ago about their relations with Moldovan periodicals.

Arguments in favor of this claim are heaps. I will just refer to some examples from my own experience. In 2007, we launched a new periodical in Ungheni city, called Expresul, which soon became regional, distributed in the districts of Ungheni, Nisporeni and Calarasi. Right from the start, when we concluded our first contract with Posta Moldovei, we were kindly advised by the then head of the Ungheni Post Office: "Take care what you write about, because it might happen that the newspaper won't be distributed." I remember it was year 2007 and the Party of Communists was in power.
It is true that no one from Posta Moldovei intervened in the years that followed or pointed a finger at us in relation with any of our journalistic materials. However, they intervened very brutally when Expresul reached Nisporeni in 2011. In fact, there was a merger between the district newspaper Gazeta de Vest with Expresul de Ungheni, which resulted in the creation of the regional newspaper Expresul. Following this merger, subscribers of Gazeta de Vest were to receive Expresul from September 30 (in three months).
Nisporeni Post Office was officially announced (in writing) about this. Readers were also announced, in the last edition of Gazeta de Vest, in accordance with the contract.
However, after we presented the entire lot of printed copies to Nisporeni Post Office, on September 29, we were told – orally, without a written warning – that people in Nisporeni don’t want to read Expresul, although those subscribers did not even see the new publication!
Our attempts to clarify the situation were not successful; every time we faced a very reserved attitude. Our questions and inquiries were answered in an irritated tone or we were sent from one employee to another.
 
We decided to address Posta Moldovei to clarify the situation. Two weeks later, we received a reply about nothing, like “A commission has been created to examine the case…,” signed by the then director Vladimir Ceban. That was all.
As one says, there is nothing new under the sun. There have been other situations of this kind, too.
 
In 2015, all of a sudden, we woke up with a fine of 500 lei from Posta Moldovei. They said it was for the fact that the newspaper Expresul had been brought from the printing house two hours later than it was stipulated in the contract. No report was drawn up about this “violation,” we weren’t announced about the delay. Posta Moldovei simply did not transfer 500 lei from the money for subscription. Our attempts to clarify the situation were in vain. Accountants would end phone calls every time we asked for a record or some other document confirming that Expresul was brought to the post office with a delay. Postal management did not react in any way, either. Although the Association of Independent Press got involved to clarify the situation, we succeeded nothing.
 
Contracts
Contracts with Posta Moldovei give headaches to publishers. Every year, they come up with new “ploys.” The latest one is the imposition of barcodes for periodicals. In the middle of April outlets were announced that as of May 1, newspapers must have barcodes. Otherwise, they will not be sold. At least the editorial office of Expresul was, as usual, announced about this orally, without any explanation.
As a result, we had to make additional efforts, including financial ones, to solve the problem. Although we obtained the barcode in 2009, according to that year’s rules, we gave it up later, because it was just a formality for which we had to pay. We notified about it officially, through a letter, the National Book Chamber, which issues this barcode. However, now, when Posta Moldovei imposed that rule again, the National Book Chamber made us pay for all the previous years. In total, 1,890 lei.
Thus, we found ourselves between the hammer and the anvil. If you refuse to pay for the years past, you are not given a new barcode. The old one had been canceled. If you have no barcode, the post does not accept newspapers for sale. In addition, in the second half of April we had a lot of Easter-related holidays. Some of our colleagues did not manage to get this barcode in time, and some of them were about to give up selling newspapers.
As for contracts with Posta Moldovei, they are not negotiated.
It is known that Posta Moldovei currently has monopoly on the subscription and distribution of newspapers and magazines. And, like any monopolist, it behaves as such. If you want to move on, you must accept the conditions they impose. There is no alternative. At least at the moment.
 
What is to be done?
There have been talks about creating a new structure that would deal with the distribution of periodicals. But in Moldova it is nearly impossible. Costs would be too high compared to income.
The Association of Independent Press made numerous attempts to discuss with the representatives of Posta Moldovei; numerous statements were made regarding outlets’ relations with this structure. Nothing changed. In fact, Posta Moldovei, which is a state-owned institution, no longer responds to criticism. It doesn’t respond to the statements of newspaper publishers or media organizations, either.
 ______________________________
The article was published within the Advocacy Campaigns Aimed at Improving Transparency of Media Ownership, Access to Information and promotion of EU values  and integration project, implemented by the IJC, which is, in its turn, part of the Moldova Partnerships for Sustainable Civil Society project, implemented by FHI 360.This article is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The content are the responsibility of author and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.