Baltic States – CIS, Containers, Estonia, Good for Business, Port, Transport

Tallinna Sadam completed building the infrastructure of the container terminal, that cost nearly a billion kroons, with the support of 18.9 million euros of EU funds, last summer. Rail Garant that won the contest for operator of the terminal intends to invest another one billion kroons in the terminal development and launch work there in the first quarter of 2013. Construction should be launched in the first quarter of next year.

“The project develops transit, brings competition to the container sphere and increases the competitiveness of Tallinna Sadam,” said Tallinna Sadam board chairman Ain Kaljurand. “Including the railways in cargo transport hedges the risks connected to capacity of highways and border checkpoints.”

Rail Garant’s board chairman Nikolai Falin said that the advantages of port of Tallinn are comfortable location, developed infrastructure, all-year-round navigation, lack of customs taxes and simple transit procedures.

“North West Russian ports are overburdened and they have a shortage of capacity even at current cargo volumes,” said Falin. “We estimate that the possibilities offered by Eesti Raudtee are bigger and better than the possibilities of Latvian or Lithuanian railways.”