12/01/2024, 06:06
Orlen assures that the press will not disappear from the gray kiosks (Photo: Piotr Molęcki/East News)
Ruch SA, controlled by state-owned Orléans, has announced that it will exit the press distribution markets at the end of April. This is a blow to publishers, as the distributor will eliminate a valuable logistics network that allows press and books to be delivered to sales points across the country.
– The decision of Ruch SA was not consulted with us. We were informed about this during a routine meeting with the company's management, says Artur Gasinsky, Deputy General Director of the Chamber of Press Publishers.
White spots on the map of Poland
– When Ruch decided to stop subscribing to the print press at the end of last year, I began to fear that the next step would be to stop distributing copy – says Maciej Maciejowski, president of Gremi Media SA. – This will not be important for our publishing house, because our main channel, apart from online, is the subscription to “Rzeczpospolita” and Rukh is not the only distributor on the market. However, this is very bad news for the wider press market and society as a whole. There will be white spots on the map of Poland, places where the press is not available – adds Maciejowski.
The press office of Orlen, the main owner of Ruch SA, claims that the decision to withdraw from distribution does not mean that newspapers will disappear from Ruch newsstands. “The distribution of the press should not be confused with its availability at kiosks and other points of sale,” the company said in a statement.
– Gray's decision means that only two nationwide press distributors will remain on the market: Kolporter and Garmond Press – explains Arthur Gasinski. – Ruch considered this segment as a deficit and announced a competition for proposals to take it over. I assume that both distribution companies will try to take over the points of sale located near them or on the route to the points they currently serve – notes Gasinski.
According to him, the number of press sales may decrease by 30% with Rukh's decision. – The distribution of the press in sparsely populated areas is unprofitable due to the relatively high costs of transport – says Gasinski. – Today Rukh has only 550 kiosks in all of Poland, but there are 6.7 thousand points to which he supplied the press. It includes: Dino chain of stores located in small towns. Even if press turnover there is high, they probably aren't all located on the Garmond and Colporter routes, which means it wouldn't be profitable to deliver to them, he adds.
“I consider the liquidation decision scandalous”
According to Zbigniew Benbenek, Chairman of the Supervisory Board and the main shareholder of Grupa ZPR Media SA, the publisher of “Super Express”, there is still a great demand for high-circulation newspapers. – I assume that Garmond and Colporter will find solutions to reduce distribution costs and develop a profitable model, but the state should support the distribution and sale of the printed press, – says Benbenek. – I had an idea for a program modeled on 500 plus: sellers and suppliers of press titles would receive such a bonus in exchange for press placement. Now it should probably be 1500 plus – explains Zbigniew Benbenek.
The IWP has ready a draft rescue act for the printing press, which provides for subsidizing its distributors according to the principle: the smaller the town, the greater the support. – We are among the few EU countries that do not support the press. I hope that the new government will take into account our demands, which also include zeroing the VAT rate, says Artur Gasinski.
– At the time of taking over Ruch, the state of Orléans promised to save and organize the distribution network of the Polish press. Meanwhile, he is now announcing liquidation – comments Grzegorz Cidejko, president of the Association of Journalists and Publishers Repropol. – The ancient Polish press and book distribution system, which allowed for fast and efficient delivery from the printing house to the distribution and sales points, is the most valuable part of the movement and important to Polish culture. I consider the decision to liquidate it scandalous, adds Cydejko.
We asked Olaf Furmanek, Ruch SA's director of marketing and communications, about the reasons for the exit from the press distribution market, but we did not receive a response by the time of going to press for this issue of Preservice.
(JF, 12/01/2024)
* If you find an error, select it and press Ctrl + Enter
(translate tags) press