There has been a new postal service provider from Ukraine in Germany for a few months now: Nova Post now operates 15 branches in this country – especially in large cities like Berlin, where many Ukrainian refugees live who want to keep in touch with their homeland. Nova is also making bigger plans: In the next two years, the shipping service provider wants to open 200 branches in 30 European countries and thus make Nova one of Europe’s leading postal companies. In an interview with ntv.de, European boss Oleksandr Lysovets reveals how the company wants to achieve this.
ntv.de: Was the expansion into Europe an economic decision because you had to close branches in Ukraine after the Russian attack began, or did you want to help refugee Ukrainians send packages home after all other companies found the risk too great ?
Oleksandr Lysovets: Immediately after the full-scale invasion, a large number of Ukrainian citizens found themselves abroad. Many of them left the country in a hurry and with only a few belongings. Therefore, there was a high demand to receive and return large packages of personal items from Ukraine. We started thinking about how we could help Ukrainians and developed the “Things from home to abroad” service with discounts of up to 85 percent to Europe. We opened our first branch in Warsaw on October 22, 2022. This is how we began our international expansion – within just one year we opened branches in five new countries.
Have you had any experience abroad before?
Oleksandr Lysovets is responsible for launching Nova Post in new countries as well as developing infrastructure and new services in existing countries.
(Photo: private)
We were already sending packages around the world before the war. Our company Nova Global works with European partners. However, the service wasn’t particularly cheap. We opened our first official representative office in Moldova in 2014. So we already had our first experiences abroad. There were also plans to enter the European market before the invasion. The Ukrainian refugees were an incentive for us to do it faster.
And how quickly did the expansion happen?
In the first three months we opened 17 branches in major Polish cities. These were Krakow, Poznan and other cities like Breslau and Rzeszow. Poland had opened its borders and simplified customs procedures for us.
How do you adapt your Ukrainian business model to the German market?
In Europe we approach things differently than in Ukraine. We work with last mile delivery partners who were already operating in Europe. In Germany, for example, they are DPD and DHL. In each country we have at least one partner who offers us intermediary services, such as customs clearance. The different process also encouraged us to implement things in Ukraine that work better in Europe and vice versa.
And the costs?
So far we have invested around ten million US dollars in market entry and development in Europe. That’s not a lot, but we see ourselves as a startup in Europe. We do not build our own buildings and even have our partners deliver specifically to individual countries. This year we will invest more money as we want to enter new countries and open additional branches in countries where we already operate.
Were there losses in logistics?
We loaded the trucks with packages from the start and added more as we grew. There was particularly great demand in Poland, as many branches were opened there. The trucks immediately drove from Ukraine to Poland and vice versa.
Did the company achieve its goal of returning delivery volumes to pre-war levels?
Last year we delivered 412 million parcels. That’s even 30 percent more than in 2022. Yes, so we have restored the volume, we have reached the pre-war level and even exceeded it in 2023.
Who are your customers?
We have ordered a study from Gradus in Ukraine and we expect the results during February. But our Ukrainian customers say Nova is like a mini-embassy of Ukraine in Europe, because that’s where people meet, get to know each other and communicate. Everyone else comes mainly out of curiosity, to look around, to see something new. Of course, it is mainly women who send many things home to their husbands or relatives, since men in Ukraine have to defend the country. Unfortunately, this is the reality we live in today.
Do you know what customers send most often in their packages?
These are mostly personal things: books, documents and so on. And if we talk about the holidays – for the New Year, for Christmas, customers sent souvenirs, gifts from Europe, even food, and as much as possible. But not all food can be transported. We keep track of customs clearance and inform our customers about what is allowed and what is prohibited.
They send whatever they want, but the most important thing is clothes, shoes, books, documents and goods that are approved for transport by German and Ukrainian customs, including household appliances or laptops. But bicycles and skis are also sent.
How many branches are there currently abroad?
In Europe we currently have 87 branches in eleven countries, with the largest number of branches in Poland, 39, and in Germany there are 15. If we take into account the partner network through which we deliver in Europe, there are more than 35,000 service points (delivery points and post offices) as well as every address in the countries where we operate.
That’s probably enough for you not.
We plan to open branches in England, Great Britain, Spain and France as well as expand in existing markets. In Germany we are aiming to open 20 more branches by the end of the year. Our delivery service is expanding to offer faster than market pickups and deliveries. Our logistics make it possible to deliver packages between cities within one day.
We currently offer more services and facilities in Ukraine than in Europe because we rely on local partners. However, we plan to expand our offering in Europe, in particular through an app specifically developed for this market. This app is multilingual and includes a parcel management service that allows users to reroute parcels, track the courier route on the map, choose alternative delivery people and adjust the delivery time slot.
Are there any problems in the German and European market that you don’t know about in Ukraine?
The only problem is time. Due to the requirements of local authorities, we lose a lot of time. In addition, we have to obtain many licenses and permits even to open a bank account. It took us a long time to open our first branches in Germany. We had planned it to take three months, but it took six months.
Do you want to compete with large corporations like DHL and Amazon?
We want to be partners rather than competitors. In general we are very open to collaboration.
Aren’t you afraid of competition on the European market?
Healthy competition is always good. I would like to add that we can add Ukraine as a potential market with almost 40 million customers. With over 10,000 branches and more than 15,000 post offices, this is a significant expansion. We are thus expanding the existing infrastructure in Europe to include Nova Post in Ukraine.
With Oleksandr Lysovets said Maryna Bratchyk