Bpost boss says he can travel, but must be careful …

Jean-Paul Van Avermaet, CEO of Bpost, says in the Chamber that he is able and willing to travel as far as necessary in his position. ‘The coronavirus is my only limitation’. He can say little about the investigation into cartel agreements, on the advice of his counsel and legal restrictions.

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Van Avermaet, who explained to the parliamentary committee on public companies on Tuesday morning about Bpost’s strategy and the many questions surrounding his person, did not make parliament much wiser. After Van Avermaet’s presentation in which he promised to ‘work together on a sustainable future for the company’, Michaël Freilich (NV-VA) immediately started: ‘Let us name the elephant in the room.’ That elephant is the cartel investigations in the security sector that are currently being conducted by both the Belgian Competition Authority (BMA) and the US Department of Justice (DoJ). Van Avermaet is a prime suspect in his role as the then cluster manager at G4S. Minister Philippe De Backer (Open VLD) was not aware of this, it turned out in September.

The CEO defended that he had consciously chosen to initially only talk about Bpost’s strategy. Parliament should be aware of that importance, he believes. Especially because the company is in full transformation. This did not prevent him from receiving questions about his performance from eight committee members after his exposé.

Manager without stress and worry

Van Avermaet said he first became aware of the investigation on April 8 when he received questions from competition watchdog BMA. ‘I then informed the authorized persons at Bpost as well as my former employer G4S.’ He did not explain who those ‘authorized persons’ were. Why this information was not passed on to Minister De Backer remains unclear.

The Bpost CEO’s strategy was clearly one of coming across as a stress-free, worry-free manager who was focused on his job. He does not believe that the investigation is hindering his functioning within the public company. “I will run the business the same way I did during Covid and before.”

‘No travel restrictions’

The MPs also wanted to know whether Van Avermaet is able to travel freely. The ongoing investigation has been unclear, while the position requires the CEO to be able to travel to all of Bpost’s subsidiaries at any time. This became immediately clear in September when the CEO of the American Radial, an important subsidiary and growth engine for BPost, unexpectedly left. Van Avermaet assures the House that he is ‘able and willing’ to make the necessary trips. “The only limitation is the corona virus,” said the CEO.

SP.A MP Melissa Depraetere also insisted once again for clarity on the issue of dual functions at Bpost. For a time, Van Avermaet coincided with the previous CEO Koen Van Gerven, who remained active until February 26. Van Avermaet, who started at Bpost in January, is also said to have been on G4S’s payroll until the end of February. According to the Bpost CEO, this is a ‘regrettable misunderstanding’. The money that he had received from G4S after joining Bpost was, according to him, the payment of legal vacation days. “G4S had suggested doing it this way and told me not to give up my cancellation,” he said. Van Avermeat also confirms that he started fully at Bpost on January 13, because this had given him the opportunity to settle in. He added that this is common practice in other companies as well to ensure a smooth transition.

Wait for investigation

He made no firm promise about whether he will be transparent about further developments in the investigations related to him. According to him, he cannot say much about the American investigation, this on the advice of his counsel. ‘You are limited in what you can say under penalty of sanctions, says my counsel. I am not personally aware of that legislation either. ‘ There was also a problem with regard to Belgian legislation. “My freedom to give information is limited, I understand from my counsel.”

He cautiously indicated that there was another issue: if necessary, he also had to be able to defend himself. ‘Until now I have been receiving written questions from the BMA. I have not yet been told that I would have committed any infringements, ‘said Van Avermaet, who repeated that he had every confidence in the successful outcome of the file.

The members of parliament present also expressed their confidence in the investigation. Christian Leysen (Open VLD), who was still on the Board of Directors of Bpost under Johnny Thijs, pointed out the importance of the company to our country. ‘Do we have to bring that image down?’ He asked, after Maria Vindevoghel (PVDA), among others, wondered whether the Bpost CEO had already considered the image damage that Van Avermaet had caused the public company.

The MPs will soon have the floor for their reply. Those MPs are also concerned about the services at Bpost, working conditions and price increases.

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