Rail Baltica will save the Baltics from transit collapse

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The deterioration of relations with Russia and Belarus has cost the Baltics dearly. Minsk deprives Vilnius of transit through Klaipeda as a punishment for “Lukashenka phobia”. Moscow has already practically destroyed the Latvian railway and port business, which is forced to massively lay off workers and sell assets. What is this, the final finish, or do the Balts still have some real chances to swim out?

Lithuania fell out with Belarus because of the "President Sveta", on which Vinnius clearly pinned hopes to close the unfinished BelNPP. Did not work out. Alexander Lukashenko, with the support of the Kremlin, stayed in power, and now began the process of reorienting cargo flows from Lithuanian ports to Russian ones. Neighboring Latvia dreamed of intercepting part of this transit from Moscow, but Riga's position on the Belarusian issue turned these fantasies to dust, although adequate political analysts warned her to show restraint and simply “keep silent” where the Lithuanians allow themselves harsh rhetoric.



What's done is done. Latvia has no reason to hope for generosity from Minsk, and it is bad for it news... Due to its Russophobia, Riga has already lost most of the Russian transit flow, which accounted for 70,4% of the total. According to the data for the summer of last 2020, the share of freight traffic from our country on the Latvian Railways decreased by 47,2%. You can imagine what the numbers will be by the end of 2021. Moscow naturally transfers transit from the unfriendly Baltic to its own ports and at the same time beckons Minsk to do the same.

This is a huge problem for Vilnius and Riga. Last year it became known about the intention of "Latvian Railways" to lay off 1,5 thousand of its employees. The company asked for assistance from the state in the amount of 25 million euros, and this is clearly not the last appeal of this nature. In order to "support the pants", "LZD" was forced to put up for sale 200 wagons, 13 diesel locomotives, dozens of cars and even a rest house. Now the turn has come to sell some kind of "scrap metal", which means rails, fastenings for them, parts of cars, etc. 4300 tons of former elements of the Latvian railway infrastructure will be used for "needles". It all looks pretty sad. The proceeds will quickly go to urgent needs, and then you will have to sell something else.

In "LZhD" they are brave, declaring that they will come out of the crisis as a company "focused on development". The range of services rendered by it will expand due to terminals and warehouses, as well as sea and road forwarding services. But where does this come from after the departure of Russian and Belarusian export goods?

The Baltics have high hopes for the Rail Baltica project. This future European railroad should connect Riga, Kaunas and Tallinn with Warsaw and Berlin. Also, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia can become part of a single transport corridor between Scandinavia, Western and Southern Europe with access to the Mediterranean Sea in Italy. In principle, the project is quite interesting, but it has already faced a lot of internal problems due to the conflict of interests between its participants. The Balts grabbed Rail Baltica and even threaten to block the EU Recovery Fund if they do not receive the promised investment from Brussels. High relationships.

Meanwhile, the railway is likely to be completed, since its main purpose is military. Lithuanian Minister of Transport Rokas Masiulis confirmed this two years ago:

This is not only vital for the development of business and the convenience of residents in the region, but is also one of the priority objects in ensuring the national security of Lithuania and the mobility of the military in the region.

Rail Baltica received the status of a "military mobility facility" of the European Union. During its laying, special sites will also be built for quick and convenient loading and unloading of military equipment and the troops of the NATO bloc. It is not difficult to guess against whom this transport infrastructure will be used in the event of an armed conflict.
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  1. The comment was deleted.
  2. +6
    2 February 2021 12: 06
    Rail Baltica remains a purely military purpose, since there are no cargo flows and is not expected due to the lack of industry, and there are no human flows either. Therefore, it is being completed at a clear loss, but the main money is given by Brussels, as an expansion of NATO logistics against Russia.
    1. +5
      2 February 2021 14: 20
      Quite true. Classic rocky road.
      1. -9
        3 February 2021 11: 42
        Quote: General Black
        Classic rocky road.

        Very competent. Would you like to clarify what this "rocky road" is
        1. +1
          4 February 2021 09: 07
          Rocky road or rockada, a road running parallel to the line of hostilities. This is such a military term. It has nothing to do with catching herring.
    2. -4
      3 February 2021 11: 39
      Quote: Vladimir Tuzakov
      due to lack of industry,

      How do they live, magic?
      1. 0
        3 February 2021 11: 53
        Like all the beggars with handouts from the EU, which sotavlyaetsya 40% of the budget, are now reduced to 25%. Second, emigration made up about THIRD of the most productive population, they send to relatives (parents, children) another 20% of the bojet, they themselves earn less than half of the budget ... A picture of all impoverished states ...
        1. -3
          4 February 2021 10: 02
          Quote: Vladimir Tuzakov
          Like all the beggars with handouts from the EU, which sotavlyaetsya 40% of the budget, are now reduced to 25%. Second, emigration made up about THIRD of the most productive population, they send to relatives (parents, children) another 20% of the bojet, they themselves earn less than half of the budget ... A picture of all impoverished states ...

          Where did you get the data? Really curious.
          1. +1
            4 February 2021 11: 28
            Such your statement resembles a joke: the Chukchi is a writer, the Chukchi is not a reader ... Take an interest in open sources, you will find the answer ...
  3. +1
    2 February 2021 12: 13
    The construction should be parallel to Nord Stream 2 and along the seabed.
  4. +1
    2 February 2021 17: 09
    About the track stitches. At 76 he cruised the Soviet Baltic in his first car. Autobahn Vilnius-Kaunas 3x3, awesome! There were no such people in the MO! At gas stations, a middle-aged lady puts a gun in the tank. Further north to Latvia, 1x1, you go, there was a track, there was a real runway, then again a highway ... And the strawberries along the road were, no worse than Dombai ... fellow
  5. +6
    2 February 2021 17: 41
    And why, in the Sprat extinctions, they hope that the Hans will load their ports with work at the expense of their own? The Germans are not stupid to do this, but Germany has enough of its ports and Berlin will defend their interests first of all. The Yankees are probably building the railway road to transfer their military equipment to the borders of the Russian Federation, but this will definitely not raise the economy of sprats from the ashes.
    1. -10
      3 February 2021 11: 44
      Quote: Sapsan136
      Sprat extinctions

      This is about Kaliningrad, was it like a monument to the Sprats was erected or not?
      1. +5
        3 February 2021 11: 48
        This is about your Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, living on subsidies from the EU, whose population is dying out and scattered for permanent residence in other countries
        1. -8
          3 February 2021 11: 54
          Quote: Sapsan136
          This is about your Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, living on subsidies from the EU, whose population is dying out and scattered for permanent residence in other countries

          And I'm talking about a monument to Sprats in Kaliningrad. The capital of the sprat Baltic) When will you stop writing nonsense?
          And about that ..
          I don’t know about Lithuania and Latvia, but the migration went to Estonia. The population of Estonia has been in the Plus lately.
          Can you check where the Russians are fleeing and why the population of the Russian Federation is going down?
          1. +5
            3 February 2021 11: 56
            And I'm talking about your worthless beggar countries, which ruined all the production they inherited from the USSR, including the production of sprats. In the black? Who's hovering such fables for you? But we now know that you are in the red. Although many blacks from the United States have come to you now, who relieve themselves on your streets in broad daylight and (improve) your gene pool
            1. -8
              3 February 2021 12: 59
              Quote: Sapsan136
              In the black?

              So definitely in the black. Estonia grew three years before the epidemic at an average of 4% per year. It is a fact. Is it surprising? I am always amused by this "awareness" in the Russian Federation. "Dying out, scattering", etc. Alas, this is a lie ..
              If I'm wrong about something - facts are against the table.
              1. +3
                3 February 2021 14: 36
                You sell it to those who haven't come to see you. Your prices grew faster than your income, so you are deeply at the elephant in F
                1. -7
                  3 February 2021 14: 40
                  Quote: Sapsan136
                  You sell it to those who haven't come to see you. Your prices grew faster than your income, so you are deeply at the elephant in F

                  you push it to yours to believe. You haven't proved anything to me, except blah, blah.
                  Prices. Yeah. Our average salary is almost one and a half thousand euros.
                  Drive on. On the brains of the gullible.
                  1. +3
                    3 February 2021 15: 00
                    Yeah, and half goes to the communal flat, and your taxes are more than 20%
                    1. -6
                      3 February 2021 15: 07
                      Quote: Sapsan136
                      Yeah, and half goes to the communal flat, and your taxes are more than 20%

                      Some kind of stupidity. People can earn 600 and 2000, and lay out 20% .. Well, you have logic. We have, of course, a communal apartment higher, but not at times.
                      500 euros not taxed with us. This means that my wife and I pay 20 euros. For two tax pensions.
                      We don't have a linear tax scale. The more you earn, the more tax.
                      1. +3
                        3 February 2021 15: 44
                        Well, you and your wife have a communal apartment for a soviet apartment of 400 euros, so there is not much left to eat
                      2. -5
                        3 February 2021 16: 48
                        Quote: Sapsan136
                        Well, you and your wife have a communal apartment for a soviet apartment of 400 euros,

                        80-90 with oven. Those who have central heating for those for the same area 130
                        And you? Have you already started paying for garbage collection? And then I heard that there are problems with garbage in the Russian Federation. Yes, and personally put the bushes littered with empty containers in some. places there.
                        But you still have to pay for the order. Everything in the forest is free.
                      3. +3
                        3 February 2021 21: 36
                        Garbage removal. I don't remember exactly what is about 150 rubles a month. So you also have a stove? But what about Europe? Oh yes, I completely forgot, after all, they also sit in London with stoves, in the 21st century ... In the Russian Federation it is not in every village ... I have central heating (in severe frost, about 3500 rubles, gas heating in a private house costs cheaper for equal area.)
                      4. -3
                        4 February 2021 00: 31
                        Quote: Sapsan136
                        So you also have a stove?

                        Our house is old, it will soon be 100 years old. And I like the oven in principle. I don't depend on anyone. Plus a split system. A huge thermal power plant was built in Tallinn in the Lasnamäe region, it also runs on wood (pellets). There is a lot of garbage forest along the roads, etc. They cut it down and grind it into the boiler room.
                        I have a lot of relatives in Russia. Everywhere they are heated in different ways, some on the central, in the villages some with wood, some with coal. Russia is big and different. Surely somewhere and dung).
                        In general, I prefer general statistics, and not receive information from rumors and stories.
                        An example here: By 2035, only about 80% of Russians will be able to receive gas in their homes, and now 68% of the population have access to the resource. At the same time, the goal of gasification of all households in the country is not worth it, since many use alternative energy sources, the Ministry of Energy told Gazeta.Ru. That says it all. We still have to live to 2035.
                        We are trying to refuse gas. Here recently the whole family got mad. I'm sorry for the children.
                      5. +3
                        4 February 2021 12: 33
                        Mine had a stove during my childhood. We need a lot of firewood, a lot of coal for the winter, and I doubt that in Estonia you have a warmer winter than in my Voronezh (ha ha). That's horrible. It burns well for the first three days, after kindling, then it starts to burn worse, and then it is completely transient, you have to wait until it goes out, rake everything out and melt it again. There is no stable temperature in the house. No, this is hard labor .. Central heating is also not ideal, the best gas heating, I now know for sure. Here is where you are your own master. He killed it hot, he added no buckets of coal and bundles of firewood. There is a split system, it costs like an air conditioner in the summer and heating in the off-season, when the central heating has not yet been turned on, and it is already fresh outside. You can burn out from stove heating, there were cases. Here you need to monitor the serviceability of the devices. I have access to work with gas equipment, a license of the operator of gas boiler houses, so it’s easier for me. If I have no time myself, or need some spare parts that I’m too lazy to look for, or have no time, there is a devices, called the master, they will fix what is needed.
                      6. -3
                        4 February 2021 16: 12
                        Our winters are now very good. warm. In the 60s and 70s it was down to -30. This winter is excellent, snowy, I can't get off my skis. But there was no more than -10. The Gulf Stream spoils the weather. I heat with wood and firewood. briquette. The ash content is minimal. Once a week I will clean up the ash But I repeat, I just love it and I love to tinker with it. As a hobby. Plus I wrote the split system costs. By simple air conditioner in heating mode. The apartment is well insulated. I remember before the USSR there was still a peat briquette, it was horror. He burned the bucket, the floor of the bucket was ash.
                      7. +3
                        4 February 2021 18: 58
                        Well, we had -18, but the weather was terrible, but thaw, then frost, on the road there is water, then a skating rink, then snow, Damn, but if you heat with wood, even at -10, you have to constantly sit by the stove and throw firewood, they burn out quickly. Three bundles of firewood, that's for a few hours.
                      8. -3
                        4 February 2021 20: 24
                        Quote: Sapsan136
                        but if you heat with firewood, even at -10, you have to constantly sit by the stove and throw firewood, they quickly burn out.

                        We had such horror when we got the apartment. Then the windows were installed with plastic and when the repairs were done under the gypsum, they put cardboard cotton wool. Now it is enough to heat it once. In the morning +17.
                      9. +3
                        4 February 2021 20: 43
                        And, well, if +17 is normal for you, then there are no questions. I also have plastic windows and not budget ones, but for me +17 in the house is horrible. Minimum + 25, maximum + 28, this is the temperature in my house, although this is also an amateur. My commander preferred +20 at home, but regularly.
                      10. -3
                        4 February 2021 20: 47
                        Bath is not needed)))

                        Quote: Sapsan136
                        Minimum + 25, maximum +28
                      11. +3
                        4 February 2021 21: 59
                        Prefer a refrigerator? Your right. Bath for me is about + 40, or more. Do you know what the temperature is in a tank or an armored personnel carrier in the summer in the Caucasus? It can go up to +60. That's where the hell is
                      12. -1
                        5 February 2021 08: 51
                        Quote: Sapsan136
                        Prefer a refrigerator?

                        Cold is health by my standards. Certainly not being in it permanently. I'm talking about hardening. I have a Russian newspaper from 1914. There is an article on the hygiene of the nursery. Newborn - norm +16, children over +14. But this topic about heat is huge. They'll just kill me here for blah blah on this topic.
                        By the way, the great A. Suvorov loved the heat very much. Are you relatives by chance?))
                      13. +3
                        6 February 2021 19: 21
                        I respect Suvorov very much, it is not shameful to have such a person among our ancestors, but we are not relatives, although there are many governors among my ancestors. My family received the nobility from Ivan the Terrible, for military services. +14 this is probably good for the Eskimos, for me it is a terrible cold in the house.
  6. +2
    2 February 2021 21: 39
    Meanwhile, the railway is likely to be completed, since its main purpose is military.

    Military echelons will pass a couple of times a month.
    From an economic point of view, the project is clearly unprofitable.
    The road to the Tribaltic dead end.
  7. 0
    3 February 2021 06: 07
    Will the Tallinn-Helsinki tunnel be dug?
    1. -4
      3 February 2021 11: 56
      Quote: Petr Vladimirovich
      Will the Tallinn-Helsinki tunnel be dug?

      Hammer in the search. There are many videos on this topic.
      1. 0
        3 February 2021 17: 10
        I don’t know about Estonia, but we come here to exchange views. So, with your kind permission, I will not score anything and anywhere ...
        PS: the minus that was given to you was corrected, this time you did not write anything anti-Russian and thanks for that!
        KRGS, Peter wink
        1. -5
          3 February 2021 17: 46
          Quote: Petr Vladimirovich
          anti-Russian

          You idealize yourself. Nothing is perfect. Not Russia, not Estonia.
          I see countries as athletes. I am not lying. Just the facts. How can the facts be anti-Russian?
          You can talk about failures, or vice versa about successes. But fail more is taught
        2. -2
          4 February 2021 10: 06
          Quote: Petr Vladimirovich
          I don’t know about Estonia, but we come here to exchange views. So, with your kind permission, I will not score anything and anywhere ...

          Tell me, where is the charter here, where about this rule is written in the REPORTER.?
          1. +1
            12 March 2021 17: 54
            Tere! Have, as the bourgeois say, Rest and Relaxation and everything will be Gerey (lit.) wink winked smile
  8. 0
    3 February 2021 10: 10
    The plans to build a railway through the Suwalki corridor have been around for a long time and are of great importance for the EU and NATO.
  9. +2
    3 February 2021 14: 02
    It is unlikely that the EU will give money for the road for the transit of Russophobia. There is nothing else to carry, and Russophobia is not a payback product.
    1. 0
      3 February 2021 17: 27
      Oh, dear colleague, can I disagree? Skripal in Australia, Chirikova in Estonia, our neighbor Tikhanovskaya in Lithuania, Navalnaya in a creative search. Well, well done (young women) - the main thing is that everything is in the house !!!
    2. -2
      4 February 2021 21: 01
      Quote: kriten
      It is unlikely that the EU will give money for the road for the transit of Russophobia. There is nothing else to carry, and Russophobia is not a payback product.

      China offered money, but the EU refused.
  10. -2
    3 February 2021 23: 24
    Moscow naturally transfers transit from the unfriendly Baltic to its own ports

    So before that, we deliberately drove transit through the unfriendly Baltic for many years, deliberately forgetting about our ports, to our own detriment? This I understand, in our opinion. Or maybe because the real currency came from the Balts, the euro?