“The economy sets the pace for us”

As if we were at the Swedish Post – Christian Levrat (52) addresses du to all employees he meets. But the postal director greets Blick at the gates of the city of Bern, in the parcel center of Ostermundigen. It is possible that he remembers one or the other from union times. But one employee emphasizes that this is the first time he has met Levrat. He is happy that he comes from the same canton as the former SP chairman and that he also belongs to his party.

The former politician Blick is then available for an interview in a small, unadorned room. This is how it often looks at the post office, practical, without pomp and circumstance. As if the Freiburger wanted to make it clear: the yellow giant does not throw money out of the window.

Blick: Mr. Levrat, the city of Bern is discussing the abolition of home delivery of parcels. A good idea?
Christian Levrat: I understand the concern about sustainability, but the path is the wrong one. People like to have the packages at home. We want to go to our customers and we are also legally obliged to guarantee door-to-door delivery throughout Switzerland – including in the city of Bern.

Bern assumes that the number of packages will triple. Online retailer Digitec Galaxus reports having good experiences by delivering goods to a central point and from there bringing them to customers with bicycle couriers.
What you describe is exactly the model of the post office in Zurich. We have microbases in the city that we operate at night. From there we can deliver the packages with electric vehicles to the front door. Here at the Ostermundigen sorting centre, where we also process parcels for the city of Bern, we are currently purchasing 70 electric cars.

You become more environmentally friendly.
Swiss Post has recently dramatically accelerated its sustainability goals. By 2025, we want to deliver parcels with electric vehicles in major cities such as Bern, Zurich, Basel and Geneva. By 2030, the entire postal infrastructure must be climate neutral. We say goodbye to fossil fuels completely, which makes a difference with the largest vehicle fleet in Switzerland.

As a state-owned company, you can afford it.
We want and need. Because what surprises me since I’ve been working at Swiss Post is that our customers demand green logistics. The economy sets the pace, not politics or government. Major customers who ship millions of packages demand that we deliver them in an environmentally friendly way.

Is there pressure from politicians?
Let’s take the PO Box. The cantons are responsible for this. It’s more difficult with this one. Because electric buses are even more expensive than diesel buses, they are reluctant. It is urgent that we change. By 2040 at the latest, we no longer want to have a single diesel bus. This means that after 2028 we will no longer be able to buy diesel buses. The cantons will present the tenders for this in 2026. So you have to start electrifying the bus system now, so that in three years’ time it will be clear what the charging infrastructure in the cantons will look like, for example. That’s why we’re calling: Help us, we have to take the step now!

You’re a year post-president. Are you dissatisfied with politics?
No no. But that stands out to me when it comes to sustainability. I really enjoy my job. You see the effect of measures much more directly and concretely than in politics.

Politicians tie back Post Finance. Does the yellow financial company still have a future?
From a business point of view, the development of the last few months is gratifying. Postfinance is a strong bank. We manage over 90 billion customer assets. But that is also difficult for us, because we have to deal with higher equity requirements because Postfinance is systemically important. Unfortunately, what has not changed is that Postfinance does not have the same requirements as other banks.

With Migros Bank and Corner Bank you have brought two competitors to the post offices. That was critical. Say hello to Postfinance boss Hansruedi Köng?
Yes, we’re even going to an ice hockey game together soon. Seriously: we are opening up our branch network to strengthen it. We have to take into account the concerns of Postbus to Postfinance. But in the end we are all yellow at heart.

People tend to look red with anger.
If we have a good customer frequency in the branches, that will also benefit Postfinance. Only with good customer frequency can we secure the branches in the long term. That is why post offices must become service centres.

As a consolation, you pay CEO König generously. He earns more than Post-CEO Roberto Cirillo. Nobody understands that.
From a postman’s point of view, both wages are too high, I can understand that. However, these wages have to match the top executive wages of the competition, and the banks simply pay higher wages than the logistics companies. Both could earn significantly more in the private sector. Finance Minister Ueli Maurer and parliament have made it clear that no one should earn more than one million Swiss francs in federal companies. We keep that.

Back to the post offices. De Post has assured that it wants to stick to 800 self-service outlets. Now you’re under it.
We are sticking to our target of approximately 800 stores in 2024. But if a church wants a change, we will adjust it. In addition, politicians should ask themselves which post they want. In 2030, we will lose about 30 percent of letter volumes and 50 percent of payment traffic if things continue like this. Against this background, it is a question that politicians must answer whether and how we want to continue to operate some 800 branches. However, one thing should be kept in mind…

Namely?
The development of digitization. We don’t just deliver letters. We transport information. Our goal is to enable and take over all communication between companies and their customers by 2030. And the way they want it: for one customer physically as a letter, for the next customer with a message in the digital mailbox. Or maybe via Whatsapp – whatever.

I know what’s coming next…
What then?

They explain: that’s why the post office has to buy so many companies with the money that once came from the citizens.
But not with subsidies! With the money that came from Swiss Post’s customers, we make it possible for the public service to continue. We are evolving in the secure transfer of information. We need additional skills in data security, cyber defense and internal communications. We’ll get this one. Building the know-how takes too long. Then the future caught up with us.

You do understand that there is criticism when the yellow giant eats up many SMEs and the smaller competitors are left behind?
It’s not about the alternative, the post office or a small business. The question is: Swiss Post or Google and Amazon? If we don’t put ourselves in a position to provide the aforementioned services for Switzerland, the foreign giants will. But these are not of interest to people who are not digitally savvy. The post, on the other hand, is for everyone.

Do you still need the physical locations with digitization?
This is one of the questions that Swiss Post should discuss with politicians. However, I am convinced that the increasing digitization creates a need for physical contact between people. We have a project in the canton of Jura that relies heavily on digitization. The canton has instructed Swiss Post to assist citizens who report problems with digitization. We support them. Other cantons have expressed similar interests. They want us to support citizens in creating electronic health records. We open up the options, make variants possible – politics determine which offer you want.

And what do you expect from the politicians at Postfinance?
First of all, an honest conversation. Postfinance currently has to walk a hundred meters on one leg: it must generate a return that is customary in the industry, but it is not allowed to provide loans. She has a basic service mission that is costly. And it is systemically important, so it is subject to stricter capital adequacy requirements than most banks. That will not work in the long run.

What exactly do you expect from politicians at the end of the discussion?
Politicians determine Postfinance’s basic service mandate. I can hardly imagine people denying current developments and waiting for the last cash deposit to be made at the counter. That would be a very expensive payment. However, after 20 years in politics, I know how much my former colleagues enjoy it when a company dictates to them what decisions to make. Therefore: we expose the problem and hope that politicians will provide us with answers.

Speaking of politics, you addressed Ueli Maurer. He will leave the Federal Council at the end of the year. Simonetta Sommaruga too. They get new political bosses. Are you looking forward to Albert Rösti?
I really enjoyed working with Ueli Maurer and Simonetta Sommaruga. Both have also supported us in controversial discussions. I am happy with every new boss.