PostNord Sverige AB (formerly ''Posten AB'') is a Swedish

postal service The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal sy ...

and

courier A courier is a person or organization that delivers a message, package or letter from one place or person to another place or person. Typically, a courier provides their courier service on a commercial contract basis; however, some couriers are ...

company, which is part of PostNord. In 2009 Posten merged with its Danish equivalent, Post Danmark A/S, to form PostNord AB, a company that is jointly owned by the Swedish (60%) and Danish (40%) governments. A rebranding to PostNord for both the mail and logistics divisions was performed in 2015.

History

The service was established as ''Kungliga Postverket'' (The Royal Postal Agency) in 1636 by the Lord High Chancellor of Sweden Axel Oxenstierna, who was de facto

regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

until the young Queen Christina took the throne in 1644. It was operated as a government agency into the 1990s when it was transformed into a government-owned limited company, Posten AB. One of the most visible changes to the postal service was the decision in 2000 to replace Posten's numerous

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

s with a franchise net of postal service points, run by grocery shops and petrol stations. Postal Service Centres, run by PostNord, are maintained for business clients only. Postvagn nyare

In addition to regular mail, PostNord is also the largest distributor in Sweden of

advertising mail Advertising mail, also known as direct mail (by its senders), junk mail (by its recipients), mailshot or admail (North America), letterbox drop or letterboxing (Australia), is the delivery of advertising material to recipients of postal mail. Th ...

. Mail and package delivery has in recent times become less reliable in Sweden, accredited to the large scale organisational changes and rationalisation in the last decade. Nevertheless, it is under increasing competition from private companies on the Swedish deregulated postal market. Their main competitor is the formerly private company CityMail, nationalised by Norway as of 2006

On 24 June 2009, Posten AB merged with Post Danmark to form the new holding company PostNord AB, owned by the Swedish (60%) and Danish (40%) governments.

Transportation of the mail

All second-class mail in Sweden has been sent by rail since 2001.

Directors General of Postverket

*1850–1867 Otto Wilhelm Staël von Holstein (1802–1884) *1867–1889 Wilhelm Roos (1824–1895) *1889–1907 Edvard von Krusenstjerna (1841–1907) *1896–1902 Frans Herman Schlytern (acting) *1907–1907 Richard Ossbahr (1853–1936) *1907–1925 Julius Juhlin (1861–1934) *1925–1947 Anders Örne (1881–1956) *1947–1965 Erik Swartling (1900–1985) *1965–1973 Nils Hörjel (1917–2006) *1973–1982 Ove Rainer (1925–1987) *1982–1988 Bertil Zachrisson (1926–2023) *1988–1994 Ulf Dahlsten (1946–)

Managing Directors of Posten AB

*1994–1998 Ulf Dahlsten (1946–) *1999–2002 Lennart Grabe (1946–) *2002–2003 Börje Österholm (1942–) *2003–2008 Erik Olsson (1959–) *2008– Lars G. Nordström (1943–)

References

External links

postnord.se/
– Official PostNord Sweden site {{DEFAULTSORT:Posten Ab Government-owned companies of Sweden

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...