09.11.2012
Belarus to reroute cargo traffic from Baltic Sea ports to Leningrad Oblast ports
MINSK, 9 November (BelTA) – Belarus will redirect the reshipment of large amounts of cargoes from ports of Baltic Sea countries to ports in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko made the relevant statement as he met with Mr Alexander Drozdenko, Leningrad Oblast Governor, on 9 November.
“We discussed the matter at the latest meeting with President of Russia Vladimir Putin very seriously. We made a fundamental decision to reroute large amounts of cargoes, including potash fertilizers, from ports of Baltic countries to your ports. We need to very seriously work on it. The President of Russia expressed a univocal approval of the initiative. We have to come to terms with the railway administrations of Belarus and Russia and implement these arrangements as soon as possible,” said the Belarusian leader.
“I think that even if you make some concessions for Belarusians, you will benefit a lot considering the volumes because we transship more than 10 million tonnes of cargoes via the ports of the Baltic states. Together with Vladimir Putin we agreed to implement the program,” said Alexander Lukashenko.
The head of state remarked that Belarus is at a crossroads of transit routes between the East and the West and Leningrad Oblast has a powerful transport and logistics potential in the shape of four sea ports. “It is interesting for us from the point of view of implementing modern transit projects, including the mutual transshipment of commodities to third countries by sea and by land,” said the Belarus President.
In turn, the Leningrad Oblast Governor remarked that it was necessary to come to terms regarding fair tariffs. “If we manage to come up with fair tariffs or if we get tariffs equal to those used in the Baltic states, the economies of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, and Belarus will only benefit from it. Today we are ready to use our port installations to transship machines, mineral fertilizers, oil products, and a lot of other commodities. We should do our utmost in order to achieve fair tariffs,” concluded Alexander Drozdenko.
“We discussed the matter at the latest meeting with President of Russia Vladimir Putin very seriously. We made a fundamental decision to reroute large amounts of cargoes, including potash fertilizers, from ports of Baltic countries to your ports. We need to very seriously work on it. The President of Russia expressed a univocal approval of the initiative. We have to come to terms with the railway administrations of Belarus and Russia and implement these arrangements as soon as possible,” said the Belarusian leader.
“I think that even if you make some concessions for Belarusians, you will benefit a lot considering the volumes because we transship more than 10 million tonnes of cargoes via the ports of the Baltic states. Together with Vladimir Putin we agreed to implement the program,” said Alexander Lukashenko.
The head of state remarked that Belarus is at a crossroads of transit routes between the East and the West and Leningrad Oblast has a powerful transport and logistics potential in the shape of four sea ports. “It is interesting for us from the point of view of implementing modern transit projects, including the mutual transshipment of commodities to third countries by sea and by land,” said the Belarus President.
In turn, the Leningrad Oblast Governor remarked that it was necessary to come to terms regarding fair tariffs. “If we manage to come up with fair tariffs or if we get tariffs equal to those used in the Baltic states, the economies of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, and Belarus will only benefit from it. Today we are ready to use our port installations to transship machines, mineral fertilizers, oil products, and a lot of other commodities. We should do our utmost in order to achieve fair tariffs,” concluded Alexander Drozdenko.