Bonn/Schwerin (dpa/mv) - Deutsche Post still has too few branches in the countryside - including in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. As can be seen from a letter from the Federal Network Agency to its advisory board, the supervisory authority was aware of 174 locations in Germany at the end of January that were not manned despite government regulations. According to the network agency, there were 140 at the end of December – according to the figures, the problem has worsened. Of the 140, 6 were in the northeast.
In relation to the 12,000 mandatory locations that the post office has to operate nationwide, the deficits are small - the post office has a branch in almost 99 percent of the locations. The letter from the authorities is available from the German Press Agency. According to a regulation, there must be at least one branch in every municipality with more than 2000 inhabitants. With 4,000 or more residents, a branch in connected residential areas may not be more than two kilometers away.
The federal government is currently preparing a reform of the outdated law. Then the specification for the branch network could also be changed. In most cases, post offices mean retailers who also have a post office - such as supermarkets or kiosks. Most of the locations where there is no post office despite being required to do so are in the countryside.
In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the towns of Penzlin (Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district), Elmenhorst/Lichtenhagen, Dummerstorf, Admannshagen-Bargeshagen (all Rostock district), Süderholz (Vorpommern-Rügen district) and Wittendörp (Ludwigslust-Parchim district) are affected.
