TALLINN - Economic Affairs Minister Edgar Savisaar has informed his Russian colleague that Estonia was ready to open ship traffic on Lake Peipsi between the village Praaga and the Russian ports of Pskov or Storozhinets.
Savisaar asked Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin at the end of June for an estimate when it would be possible to start navigation between the above ports.
The minister, who also heads the Center Party and has been criticized for close cooperation with pro-Kremlin forces in Russia, also praised the Estonian-Russian agreement on the development of shipping in the Lakes Peipsi, Lammijarv and Pskov basin signed in 2002, the daily Eesti Paevaleht wrote.
Rein Kilk, owner of Tartu Sadam (Tartu Port), operator of boat traffic on the Laaksaare-Piirisaare and Tartu-Piirissaare routes, said that plans to launch traffic between Tartu and Pskov had been brooded over and dealt with on the political level for 10 years, but only recently the ministry started to tackle the issue.
"There are no obstacles on the Estonian side, but there are obstacles on the Russian side that a private company cannot solve," Kilk said.
