Three tenders have already been launched by the Telecoms Ministry to find a successor to LibanPost. (Credit: PHB )
The Telecommunications Ministry made the announcement Tuesday, and the tender was officially launched Wednesday.
According to the caretaker Telecommunications Minister Johnny Corm, the conditions outlined in the specifications published the same day on the website of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) have been relaxed to encourage a larger pool of candidates to participate — a move he previously announced in April.
The contract duration will remain fixed at nine years, and bidding is scheduled to open in five weeks’ time.
“The call for tender is now open to transport and logistics companies in the broadest sense, whereas before, potential candidates also had to have experience in delivering mail weighing less than 50 grams,” Corm told L’Orient-Le Jour.
“With this change, the French transport and logistics giant CMA CGM, in association with the company Colis privé France, will be eligible to bid again without the regulatory authority expressing any reservations about their qualifications,” he added. “Parcel delivery companies such as Aramex and DHL will also be eligible.”
Corm added that the postal service generates only 10 percent of its revenue from the delivery of mail weighing less than 50 grams.
According to a source within LibanPost, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Crom is downplaying the importance of having a mail specialist with experience in managing the entire end-to-end cycle, especially for specialized services like registered mail.
Different percentages for different services
At the end of March, the ministry launched a second tender to select a carrier for Lebanon’s postal services, and the only bidders were the French carrier and its partner.
The two companies were initially declared the winners, with their bid offering to pay the Lebanese state “15.5 percent” of the gross profit generated. However, approximately two weeks later, the caretaker minister, following advice from the PPA, decided to cancel the tender. The PPA had raised concerns regarding the qualifications of the bidders and also had issues with the calculation of the profit share proposed by the winning bid.
Under the revised tender specifications, amendments have been made to the section that defines the proportion of revenue from the operation of postal services to be paid to the state.
In the previous version of the specifications, the payment to the state was based on a fixed percentage of at least 10 percent of the turnover minus the cost of goods sold.
In the new specifications, the percentage remains fixed with the same minimum requirement, but the deducted income is no longer the same. The ministry has introduced a specific calculation method to determine the revenue received by the state for each of the services provided by the selected operator.
For example, the revenue share from stamp sales will be calculated based on the percentage proposed by the operator, considering the gross revenue generated from those sales. However, for revenues derived from Last Mile Delivery, the same percentage will be applied, but only to 50 percent of the gross revenue specifically generated from this type of service. These are some of the specificities outlined in the new specifications.
End of LibanPost S.A.L
The minister additionally confirmed that LibanPost, the company responsible for managing postal services since 1998, will not be a candidate for the management contract succession. Instead, it will cease operations once the new operator assumes the position.
It is important to note that LibanPost S.A.L., a company owned by the Saradar group and the M1 group affiliated with the family of caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, should be distinguished from the LibanPost brand, which is owned by the ministry.
Furthermore, Crom confirmed that the director of the company, Antoni Lorfing, has recently resigned from his position.
LibanPost’s Build, Operate, and Transfer (BOT) contract initially expired at the end of 2019 but has since been extended on a temporary basis.
In May 2022, two years after LibanPost’s contract expired, the government approved the decision to initiate a call for tenders to revitalize the public contract.
The first tender process commenced on Oct. 18, 2022, with a submission deadline set for Jan. 24, 2023. However, due to the absence of any bidders, the deadline was extended to Feb. 16, but still did not yield any successful bids.
Consequently, the authorities launched another call for tender, which was ultimately canceled two weeks after announcing the results. The cancellation was prompted by the time needed by the PPA to complete and provide its ex-post evaluation.
In a May 19 interview with L’Orient-Le Jour, CMA CGM’s CEO, Rodolphe Saadé, a French-Lebanese national, indicated that he was not closing the door on participation in a new call for tenders to manage postal services in Lebanon by joining forces “with a partner.”
This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour. Translation by Sahar Ghoussoub.
