Estonia stops rail transportation of Russian goods
The country's authorities consider these transports 'unethical', even if they are 'economically harmful'
The Estonian authorities have banned the state railway company Operail from transporting Russian and Belarusian goods from January 1, 2023. The order was signed by the Minister of Economy and Infrastructure Riina Sikut.
The management of Operail was instructed to ‘assess the ethicality of commercial relations’ with Russia and Belarus and to gradually abandon them, ‘replacing them with new lines of business.’
In October, Estonia tightened the rules for the transportation of goods across the border with Russia in accordance with the eighth package of EU sanctions. The restrictions affected the transportation of personal hygiene products, soap, backpacks, women’s bags and clothes.
On December 6, it became known that Operail wants to engage in freight transportation of Russian nickel in Finland, since it was not sanctioned.
However, these plans were criticized by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, Urmas Reinsalu.
“This business is legally permissible, but the question is whether it is morally acceptable for a company owned by the taxpayers of the Republic of Estonia. In this regard, I would remain in an unequivocally negative position,’ Reinsalu said.
The company responded that it could not make ‘economically harmful decisions’ and that it ‘did not violate the official wording of the owner’s expectations.’ The chairman of the board, Raul Toomsalu, emphasized that Operail had no business in Russia: ‘We do not have any connections with Russian companies, and we have never had a single Russian client.’
Recently, the financial situation of Operail has significantly worsened: losses for nine months of this year amounted to 3.5 million euros. Over the course of a year, the volume of cargo transportation has halved, and if the company stops transporting all goods of Russian origin, it may drop by another 65-70%.
About 400 people work at Operail. The company has laid off more than 100 employees this year and will cut another 60 amid a partial shutdown of business operations. Estonia’s Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure promised to present a plan for Operail’s future in January.
We will remind you that Estonia recently sent 11 buses with generators and other energy equipment to Ukraine.
