CEO Ihor Smilianskyi announced that Ukrposhta has been named one of the world’s fastest-developing postal services at the Universal Postal Union (UPU) Congress in Dubai.
The postal service received the Rising Star Award for progress on the UPU’s Integrated Index for Postal Development (2IPD).
The award recognizes the postal service as having the fastest improvement among 192 countries worldwide.
Ukrposhta keeps delivering
Smilianskyi reported that Ukrposhta had 98% on-time delivery and 24 automated sorting centres operating during the full-scale war. He also pointed out that Ukrposhta—a public company solely owned by the state—maintains 100% domestic coverage, including frontline settlements, and supports exports to 192 countries for Ukrainian SMEs.
The international relevance is immediate.
As multiple European postal operators suspended most US-bound parcels following Washington’s end of the long-standing $800 de minimis exemption on 29 August, Ukrposhta kept delivering to the United States by adapting its compliance and data flows.
That divergence matters for e-commerce and small exporters.
Ukraine’s operational capabilities—mobile branches, satellite links, and a diversified fleet—kept services running through blackouts and strikes.
The approach offers insights for hardening national delivery networks against power cuts and physical attacks, with applications for disaster response and grid-failure scenarios.
Dreaming big
On 2IPD components, Ukraine posted gains in reliability (82.6→91), reach (31.6→87.9), and resilience (78.1→85.4). Only “relevance” (business-model fit) lags because Ukraine lacks a full postal bank—a service that can serve over 120 million customers for financial access in other countries like India.
Postal banks serve as financial infrastructure for areas that commercial banks consider unprofitable, handling everything from pension payments to small business loans.
For Ukraine, this means potential banking services in rural oblasts and frontline territories where traditional banks have closed or never operated.
The timing presents both opportunities and obstacles. Ukraine’s postal network already delivers pensions to frontline areas and processes growing e-commerce volumes, creating natural banking touchpoints.
However, the National Bank noted in August that Ukrposhta lacks sufficient capital for a banking license. Smelyansky acknowledged that this gap puts Ukraine behind 87 other postal operators who have successfully launched banking services.
Pressure produces diamonds
For future post-war reconstruction, a postal bank could provide crucial financial access to rebuilt communities and support small exporters relying on limited banking options.
The question is whether Ukraine can solve the capitalization challenge while maintaining its current operational achievements during ongoing warfare.
While Europe’s established operators struggled with regulatory changes, Ukraine’s postal service demonstrated how crisis-hardened operations outperform peacetime bureaucracy.
The Dubai recognition documents an approach that combines automation with redundant communications and mobile capacity to maintain services under extreme conditions.
The model suggests that institutions operating under extreme pressure may develop more robust capabilities than those in stable environments.