"Russian Post" suspected of pension embezzlement and extravagant PR.

      The report contains questions regarding the management of funds allocated for pension and benefit payments, as well as the company's expenses on sponsorship and informational support.

      Auditors noted 136 instances recorded by the Social Fund of Russia of delays in pension delivery ranging from one to 20 days. The report suggests that one possible cause could be actions related to depositing these funds into bank accounts before payment, as reported by Vedomosti.

      It is also noted that in financial difficulties, Russian Post allocated over 1.5 billion rubles to sponsorship and charity assistance, and more than 600 million rubles to creating a positive company image in media and social networks. According to auditors, this could have affected the efficiency of resource utilization.

      The State Duma Committee on Competition Protection recommended considering the possibility of providing compensation to citizens for delayed pension and benefit deliveries, as well as reconsidering the issue of monopolization by a single operator of these services. At the same time, mechanisms to support the company, including potential subsidies, were proposed for study.

      The company itself stated that pension delivery is carried out without interruption, including in hard-to-reach regions. It is noted that increased fund balances at the end of the year are related to the need to ensure payments during the New Year holidays.