17 january 2024 — 12:00
The reason was the general economic downturn and sanctions against Russian and Belarusian goods, the Estonian broadcasting company ERR reports.
A significant decline in cargo turnover suggests that as early as 2022, a large number of Russian goods were in transit through Estonia, but last year transit stopped completely, explained Valdo Kalm, Chairman of the Board of the Tallinn Port.
He emphasizes that in the short term, it is "not possible" to replace Russian transit.
The head of the port also said that operators who were tied to Russian transit had already reduced their staff.
The report says that the cargo turnover of the Tallinn port decreased by 29% last year to 12.6 million tons. In 2006, it exceeded 41 million tons, thereby setting a record cargo turnover.
In addition, Estonia has noted a decrease in the volume of rail freight traffic, which has called into question the feasibility of the Tallinn Ring Railway project.