Rising tide lifts trade

TALLINN - Estonia as a transit country is on the rise again, said officials at Tallinna Sadam (Port of Tallinn) at an international transit conference on Sept. 16 in Tallinn, reports National Broadcasting. Major changes have taken place in the transport sphere recently and after years of low tide, Estonia has the hope to earn from transit again.

Tallinna Sadam board chairman Ain Kaljurand said that thinking of Northwest Russia and China, the trade potential is very big. However, entrepreneurs from the east who attended the conference consider the rail width of railways and difficulty with border crossing as problems. Kazakhstan’s State Economy Chamber board chairman Azat Peruashev said that the plan that was voiced at the conference to gradually adopt the European standard creates questions, since then the need of reloading becomes a barrier for transit.

International Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Congress President Viktor Glukhikh noted that right now, common work is needed to improve border crossing so that cargo transport does not have to wait at the border. “Major work is under way to achieve visa freedom too,” he said.

Of the major ports of the Baltic states, the Port of Tallinn registered the largest cargo turnover in the first eight months of the year, at 24.7 million tons, reports Nozare.lv. Second in terms of cargo turnover is Klaipeda Port in Lithuania, at 19.9 million tons, followed by Riga Port in Latvia with 19.7 million tons, followed by Ventspils Port in Latvia at 17.3 million tons. Liepaja Port in Latvia registered cargo turnover of 2.7 million tons in the first eight months of the year.
Compared to the same period in 2009, Tallinn’s port had the most rapid increase in cargo turnover, up by 16.5 percent, followed by Klaipeda Port, up by 12 percent, and Liepaja Port, higher by 0.3 percent.

Ventspils Port, however, saw a 9 percent reduction of cargo turnover in the first nine months of the year, while Riga Port registered a 1.9 percent reduction in cargo turnover.