Russia may stop the transit of coal through the port of Riga

Andris Ameriks, Deputy Mayor of Riga and Chief Executive Officer of the port, said with reference to unofficial information that "Russia may stop using the Freeport of Riga for coal transit." Ameriks said: "I hope this information will not be confirmed, but such information, as a rule, has a continuation."

He said that Russian coal operations account for a third of the total cargo turnover of the Port of Riga. The port has no way of replenishing this volume. Ameriks said: “I think it will affect the Latvian economy as a whole. Potential losses are estimated at 130 million euros, or up to 140 million US dollars per year, because every million tons of coal processed in the Port of Riga provides about 10 million euros to the Latvian economy ”.

Russian railways carry out freight traffic to Latvia in accordance with the requests of shippers approved by the Latvian side. At the same time, the press service of the Russian railway operator reported, in turn, that “so far there are no restrictions for Russian Railways in the implementation of railroad deliveries of goods to Latvia.