ER Editor: For a little bit of history and background to this story, we recommend this short October, 2016 piece from Baltic News Network (BNN – perhaps a version of MSM?) titled Experts warn that Russian oil product transit is lost for Latvia. See also this by Sputnik News from 2016, Baltic Countries’ Ports Drying Up Due to Lack of Russian Cargo.
We also highly recommend this piece by SouthFront titled BALTIC STATES BETWEEN RUSSIA AND A HARD PLACE. SouthFront explains why 2014 and the Western coup in Ukraine was a watershed point for relations between the Baltic states and Russia.
The map shows the location of Primorsk, i.e. one of Russia’s Baltic Sea ports referenced below 
(technically, it is in the Gulf of Finland, leading into the Baltic Sea), the use of which enables Russia to avoid having to use any of the NATO-friendly Baltic states for import/export.
We also recommend this recent piece (if you can carefully step around the western Deep State’s blame-Russia-for-everything aspect, including ‘Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014’, which it didn’t do) titled Russia Shifting Cargo Traffic Away From Baltic Ports to Its Own. Of note:
Moscow has dramatically cut the passage of goods through Baltic ports, leaving the three countries, in the words of one Russian commentator, in a state of “permanent crisis.” The current situation affects not only the Baltic ports themselves, through the loss of transit fees, but also harms Baltic rail networks feeding those ports because of reduced Russian spending on that sector (Rubaltic.ru, December 4).
In the first half of 2019, Russian traffic via Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian seaports fell by 12.4 percent from the same period a year earlier, while Russian traffic through Russian ports on the Gulf of Finland increased by more than that amount. Those statistics offer a clear indication that Moscow sees the latter as substitutes for the former and will continue to reduce the amount of goods, both bulk and containerized, passing through Baltic ports. According to Russian analyst Nikolay Kucherov, Moscow feels it has been too dependent on Baltic ports and too generous in paying the three North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member states for the privilege of using them. As a result, it has decided to end this practice in favor of expanding its own Baltic Sea port facilities (RITM Eurasia, December 2).
Russian payments for transit through the Baltic countries have been enormous. One Russian analyst suggests that, in the last year alone, they represented 13 billion rubles ($200 million). And this figure is actually smaller than it was in earlier years because, by 2018, Moscow had already cut back somewhat on shipments via the Baltic States. Still, Russian port transit fees remain quite significant to each of the Baltics—especially since those figures paid by Russian firms do not even include levies for the use of railways or the insurance coverage of most kinds of bulk cargo (Seanews.ru, September 20). If those additional charges are included, Kucherov says, the actual Russian payments to its “anything but friendly neighbors” last year may have amounted to more than 30 billion rubles ($500 million).
Until recently, Russia had little choice but to use the Baltic States’ seaports. The rail system the Soviets established fed into those ports; …
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The Baltic states are horrified of losing the Russian transit
RUSLAN OSTASHKO
Translated by Nikolai
Subtitled by Scott
The Balts with their typical sluggish thinking have started figuring out the consequences of losing the Russian transit. The horror of the realization forced the head of Latvia’s State Railway Administration to announce that the situation is close to critical.
In September, when I posted a video on the Russian policy of removal of the last transit from the Tribaltic Desolates, the independent russophobes were still putting up a brave front.
Only a short time has passed, and the sprat democracies started screeching in horror about what was going on and what will the consequences be for lovers of “eurointegration”.
“The volumes of cargo are low enough already and decreased by 12.5% during nine months in comparison to last year. The IV quarter is much worse. It is especially bad with coal, which was our savior. Now, coal turnover volumes are so low that they are worse than even the most pessimistic predictions we made half a year ago” – the director of Latvia’s State Railway Administration Juris Iesalnieks complained.
Suddenly the svidomiye Latvians understood that if you bully the Russians for many years by doing the Nazi salute and screaming “compensation for occupation,” it can end badly. Except they understood it only when the process became irreversible.
Now the nezalezhniki (independents) can only lament the perfidy of the cursed moskals (ER: a Ukrainian insult for Russians, especially those from Moscow).
“Latvia confirms that the Russian government made an agreement with enterprises occupied in the transit business that specified the timetable for the removal of their cargo from the Baltic ports”. “This time the government of Russia took the matter very seriously. We are already seeing it now. As soon as this fall” – Iesalnieks noted.
Translated from its politically correct language, the whining of the Latvian official means that the Russian government stopped feeding the russophobes. And the latter quickly felt the disappearance of food. And they felt if with many parts of their independent economic organism at the same time.
“Due to the fall in the turnover of goods, the Latvian Railways company received a directive from the Ministry for Transport to reconsider expenses. Possible layoffs are being considered. The project for electrification of Latvian railways is up in the air. European Union funds had assigned €318 million for it, but Riga must find another €100 million to realize it. And if the transit turnover is falling, there is no point in electrification”.
Woosh – it turns out that the economic plans of the proud Latvian republic were only based on retaining the cursed occupation transit. But these plans cannot be realized without it, even with significant European subventions.
“’The government supports this project on the condition that it will not impact the state budget and government obligations. If Latvian Railways has to go to the government asking for subsidies, they will not receive support’ – the Minister for Transport Tālis Linkaits warns”
Isn’t it lovely? Only for the first half of 2019 Latvian ports have lost 12.4% of goods turnover. For individual indicators – anthracite transit for example – the losses are even higher. The offloading of Russian coal of this category fell a whole 20%.
Svidomyie, didn’t you want independence from the cursed moskals? Well, there it is, you’re welcome.
“Russian ports in the Baltics demonstrate steady growth. The highest growth rates are in the port of Vysotsk. For the first 10 months of 2019 the cargo turnover here increased 15%. This was due to oil-products, the appearance of the terminal for production and shipment of liquefied natural gas. The cargo turnover of the very large Ust-Luga port increased 10%. The highest rate of growth concerns shipping of mineral fertilizers, ferrous metals and containers. The turnover in Primorsk, which specializes on oil and oil-products, increased 6%. The port of Saint Petersburg added 2%”.
Our only Baltic port where shipping has decreased is Vyborg. Although I believe the situation there can be corrected. Other ports are rapidly broadening their infrastructure.
“In Ust-Luga a complex for storage and transshipping of mineral fertilizers is being built. The plan is that by the middle of 2020 there will be new facilities capable of processing 5 million tons of goods per year. By 2022 transshipping will increase to 12 million tons per year. In Ust-Luga there are also plans to create artificial agricultural lands, which will allow to transfer up to 7 million tons of grain and 2 million tons of food cargo.
In Primorsk by 2022 a huge universal transshipping complex will be put into operation. Its throughput capacity will reach 70 million tons per year, which will be 20% of the total goods turnover of Russian ports in the Baltic Sea. The main types of cargo that will be processed in the port – coal, mineral fertilizers, containers, metal products and grain. Additionally, a depot logistical center will be built on a territory of over 50 hectares”.
I think is not necessary to ruminate over how this will lead to an even worse drying up of the Baltic states transit. Consequently, this will lead to multiple problems in the economy of the independent Tribaltic Desolates.
Speaking of independence. Only recently the entire Russian liberal crowd screeched in unison about secret protocols of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. The chief editor of Echo of Moscow got so worked up about it pacing to and fro in the Yeltsin Center that he fell off the stage.
He alleged that cursed Stalin occupied the independent Baltic states. Although, for some reason the liberals keep silent about another agreement according to which Russia in fact bought the Balts outright.
“Why is no one condemning the pact of Peter I and Charles XII according to which we bought all these chukhontsy (prej. ‘man of Finno-Ugric origin’) from Sweden? It’s just as horrible: two tyrants decided the fate of the free Baltic peoples. If only they had decided that, in fact one of them simply sold several nations to another for cash”.
“We should present a bill to the chukhontsy. Converted to euros and with added percentage. It will be fair. Because they keep adding something up for us among themselves…”
“Sweden got rid of them and filled its treasury handsomely, while we bought ourselves some hemorrhoids out of the kindness of our hearts”.
The age of the kindness of the Russian soul towards the Balts has come to an end, and now Moscow is consistently getting rid of the ‘svidomyi sprat’ hemorrhoid. Using surgery. And the Latvians have the insolence of whining instead of rejoicing for the advent of ultimate independence.
Look here, svidomyie, you should present your grievances to the Swedes now. They are the ones who sold you to the cursed moskals. At the same time, you can take the opportunity to sue the Teutonic Order in the European Court of Human Rights, since its knights oppressed your ancestors. In case you didn’t know, this order still officially exists.
Let it and the Swedes replace the disappearing Russian transit, so that there can be a complete and final “eurointegration”, without a trace of ‘cursed moskals.’
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Original article
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