Old tires from Norway may leave soon

RIGA (BNS) - The cargos of second-hand tires from Norway sitting at Riga and Rezekne train stations for nearly two years have been qualified as waste by experts and could be moved out of the country as soon as their transportation is arranged.

Latvian railway, Latvijas Dzelzcels by Aug. 8 was to develop a plan for transportation of the tires as well as make the estimate of costs and submit the respective documents to the firm that will transport the tires out of Latvia, LDz spokeswoman Biruta Sakse told BNS.

The LDz official responsible for cargo transportations, Eriks Smukts, did not rule out departure of the tires before the end of the week.

Environment Protection and Regional Development Ministry official Rolands Bebris said the two-year-old "case of Norwegian tires has entered the final phase." Latvia and Norway in April this year exchanged notes on taking out of Latvia the more than 100 railway carriages full of old tires.

The tires were kept at customs zones in Riga and the eastern Latvian town Rezekne since September 1998 while authorities were unable to reach an agreement on their fate.

Norway has undertaken to retrieve the tires held in Rezekne train station to destroy them in an environment-friendly manner. Latvia, meanwhile, will not levy taxes and duties on the tire cargo. Norway has allocated about NOK 100,000 ($11,250) for transportation of the tires.