/ world today news/ Estonia is considered one of the most hostile countries towards Russia – the undoubted rhetoric of official Tallinn, who declared all Russians a “criminal nation”, leaves no doubt about that. Suddenly, however, a paradox appeared. Despite all the verbal hostility, Estonia continues to conduct extensive trade with Russia – and has even become a gateway for “grey” imports.
Estonian media shocked the public with unexpected news. It turned out that despite the ten packages of sanctions adopted by the EU, exports from Estonia to Russia in March this year (compared to March 2022) increased by 17 million euros. “44% of exports are machinery and transport equipment – these are printing presses and centrifuges,” said Jane Lepmets, an analyst at the Estonian State Department of Statistics.
In 2022, Estonia sold 761 million euros worth of goods to Russia. This is 3.6% of the total export of goods from Estonia. Most notably, last year Estonia supplied Russia with various mechanical devices (for 232 million euros), including centrifuges and filtering equipment. This is followed by electrical equipment (€54 million), including medical equipment, plastics and their products (€46 million), and optical and measuring instruments (€46 million). In 2022, wine exports to Russia increased sharply (by 133%) – products from the wine-growing regions of the EU were transported through Estonia. Of course, this is a serious drop compared to 2012, when it was the peak of Estonian exports to Russia – then it amounted to 1.5 billion euros.
Words and deeds
Estonia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is urging businesses not to do business with Russia, but it turns out that many entrepreneurs are turning a deaf ear to these calls. Estonian state propaganda was faced with the task of somehow trying to smooth over this fact in the eyes of its own population.
Lepmets explains that the growth is explained by inflation: according to them, the quantity of goods remains roughly the same, but the prices for them rise. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that Estonia’s export statistics should be considered for a longer period than one month. “The Estonian economy is very small. Export figures vary widely from month to month. Longer periods such as quarters should be compared. If we compare the first quarter of this year with the fourth quarter of last year, it is clear that the volume of exports from Estonia has not grown much,” says Tonis Nirk, an official at the Estonian Foreign Ministry.
According to him, most of the products (at least three quarters) exported from Estonia to Russia are by no means of Estonian origin. Lepmets confirms: “Most of it is re-export. That is, we export goods of non-Estonian origin. In March, 77% of exports were foreign products imported into Estonia. From here they are further exported to Russia. Of all the goods sent by us to Russia, only 23% were produced in Estonia.
This situation is causing concern among Estonian government agencies. “Estonia has always been a supporter of strict sanctions. We urge Estonian businesses to comply with these strict sanctions. This is extremely important to make the war very expensive for the aggressor,” Nirk explained.
Export data for April is not yet ready, but the Ministry of Statistics suggests that Estonian sales to Russia are unlikely to decrease. Meanwhile, this situation attracted the attention of the Western press – and Estonian Prime Minister Kae Kalas had to justify himself. “Financial Times” published data that only half of the sanctioned goods that were transported from the European Union to the EAIS Customs Union countries (Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan) reached their final destination. According to the publication, the total volume of such “dissolved” goods amounts to a billion euros, and a “disproportionate” share of such shipments passes through the Baltic countries.
Plug all the holes in the fence!
Erki Kodar, an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, is convinced that almost all the sanctioned goods allegedly transported in transit through the Russian Federation ended up in the Russian Federation. “Where else? Why did all these countries suddenly urgently need all these goods? Who needs them the most in the region? Of course, Russia,” he declared. Kaya Kalas also did not deny the fact of such supplies. According to her, she had to literally “beg” Estonian companies to turn on the “moral compass” and refuse deals that could lead to Russia’s access to sanctioned goods.
The Estonian prime minister admitted that supplies to the Russian market, bypassing Western sanctions, remain attractive for business and accused entrepreneurs of hypocrisy. “You say very loudly: ‘Ukraine, Russia, security,’ but you yourself are negotiating in a hidden way with the Russians,” Callas told the Financial Times. The Estonian Prime Minister confirms that in many cases the sanctioned goods officially pass through Russia to other post-Soviet countries, but ultimately remain on the territory of the Russian Federation.
Kalas considers the very idea that Estonia will ever restore its former relations with Russia unacceptable. Speaking on May 15 at the High Level Summit on Democracy in Copenhagen, she stressed: “Russia cannot be judged through the lens of democracy. Russia is a rogue state that should be completely isolated. Our pressure on Russia must increase, not decrease. Until Russian society is ready to answer for its crimes, we must all be prepared for the worst.”
It is clear that he cannot help but resent the idea that there are entrepreneurs in Estonia who are ready to promote “parallel imports” to Russia. Kaya Kalas calls on her EU colleagues to introduce a ban on the transit of all goods through the Russian Federation. The fact of the sharp increase in exports from Estonia to Georgia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan causes her extreme concern. “The easiest thing would be to ban transit to all countries bordering Russia. Separate Estonian sanctions will not solve the problem, because exports will simply move to another border country,” insists the head of the Estonian government.
And her calls were heard. As you know, the EU has already prepared the eleventh package of sanctions, which aims to “plug” the “holes” left after the previous packages – in particular, to limit the transit of sanctioned goods through Russia.
Business will always find a loophole
The Estonian press is also happy to identify slandered local companies that continue to cooperate with the Russians. Last year, companies that imported and used oil products from Russia became victims of such denunciations. They did not break any laws as they took advantage of the “loopholes” left in the sanctions rules. But still, in their homeland, they were almost declared “national traitors”. Now the “hunt” for such “traitors” has only intensified.
Recently, for example, the Estonian shipping company Hansa Shipping has come under fire. It turned out that the ship of this company made a trip from the port of Muuga to Kaliningrad – and this case is far from the only one.
It is instructive that where their own authorities directly forbid Estonian enterprises from cooperating with the Russians, companies from other Baltic countries are trying to grab the ownerless “piece of the pie”. Last year, Estonia essentially banned its state-owned Operail from transporting Russian and Belarusian goods. This benefited the Latvian LJ, which this year began to actively transport goods from Estonian ports to Russia.
But participation in supplies to Russia pales in comparison to such a terrible “sin” as cooperation with enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex. And as it turned out, some companies from the Baltic countries are also guilty of this “sin”! So recently it turned out that the Estonian company “Marker Nordic” until recently supplied the Russian defense contractor with bundles of optical fibers, industrial glue and others. A partner of “Marker Nordic” was LOM-Petersburg – a manufacturer of optimal systems for the Russian Navy, Air Force and Ground Forces.
A company from Lithuania was also captured in cooperation with the Russian military-industrial complex. It turned out that the Lithuanian “Kudarauskienes” supplies the Russian plant “Kolomenski” with parts necessary for the production of diesel engines for warships. The company receives other parts from “Sipavag” from Switzerland and “Geislinger” from Austria. Thus, the “iron curtain” being built around Russia is being cut through. The more bans politicians pass, the harder private business looks for loopholes.
Translation: V. Sergeev
Subscribe to our YouTube channel:
and for the channel in Telegram:
#Lust #profit #cures #Baltic #Russophobia
