VZGLYAD / Russia knocked Latvia out of the big transit :: In the world
“Latvian Foreign Minister growls [на Россию], like a dog “. These words explain the root causes of the crisis, in which the railway industry of this Baltic country is mired. The authorities themselves blame the “Soviet occupation” for everything and fire the railroad workers. This is a striking contrast to what is happening with the located Kaliningrad region of Russia.
According to the data of the Ministry of Transport of Latvia, in Latvian ports in ten months of 2021 processed a total of 33 835 million tons of cargo, which is 9.3% less than in the corresponding period of 2020. Most of all, bulk cargo was handled – 15.532 million tons (minus 11.6% to the indicator for the corresponding period last year). Liquid cargo handled 7.544 million tons (minus 22.5%), mainly oil products – 6.99 million tons (minus 24%).
In ten months of this year, 17,538 million tons of cargo were transported by rail in Latvia, which is 10.1% less than in January-October 2020. The volume of transit cargo for ten months of 2021 reached 13,479 million tons, which is 11.2% less than in the same period last year. The volume of railway transit cargo going through the ports of Latvia for ten months of this year amounted to 9 809 million tons, which is 22% less than in the corresponding period of 2020. Last year, in 2020, the volume of rail freight traffic in Latvia decreased by 41.9% compared to 2019, and reached 24.113 million tons. Such deplorable indicators led to the reduction of Latvian railroad workers.
Recently, the state-owned JSC Latvijas dzelxcels (Latvian Railways, Latvian Railways) notified the intention to interrupt by the end of the year labor relations with another 684 employees. The reason is “the need to cut costs.” It should be remembered here that over the past three years the number of employees of the Latvian Railway has already decreased from more than 10 thousand to about 7 thousand people. However, these cuts were not enough. After all, if in eight months of 2012 the turnover of the Latvian Railways was 43 million tons, then in 2018 it was 32.3 million, and this year – already 13.4 million tons. Therefore, the company continues to “cut sturgeon”. On the other hand, the state support of the Latvian Railways was necessary – the company received 75 million euros in the form of various subsidies. This is despite the fact that a few years ago the Latvian Railway was one of the most profitable state-owned enterprises!
For many former railway workers, the dismissal came as a shock – especially the specific experience gained in this profession is difficult to apply in this place. So, the Daugavpils press posted an interview with the machinist Albert Cuco, who was dismissed from the Latvian Railway. Completely unexpected.
“For many, it was a tragedy. It was difficult to find a job. I myself awaited dismissal with horror, but the first wave did not include me.
Most of my friends worked on the railroad. A dozen acquaintances have gone to truckers. The others froze in anticipation. When the second wave of redundancies began, I was demoted – I was a machinist-instructor, I became just a machinist. And the position of the driver-instructor was reduced.
And for the third wave of layoffs, I was ready. The fact is that, according to the previous (now canceled) position, if there is sufficient work experience until 1998, it was possible to retire on the basis of seniority. I just fit this law, I had to work a couple of months before retirement. A man worked in tandem with me. If he was fired, he would have nowhere to go. And of the two drivers, one was left. With more than 34 years of experience, I had the advantage, but I decided that for him the work was more necessary. And he retired because of his seniority, ”says Kuko. He cannot believe that the railway has lost its significance. “The layoffs continue. Where will these unemployed go? “, – the former machinist laments.
Minister of Transport of Latvia Talis Linkites warned that “costs” will need to be reduced in the future. “We still have employees per tonne of cargo transported and one kilometer more handled than in neighboring countries. This means that there is a possibility of transforming various technological processes, optimizing activities, ”says the minister.
Moreover, as it became customary in the Baltic countries, the minister wrote off the current troubles of the Latvian consequences – the consequences of the Soviet occupation. ” Say, the “Soviet occupiers”, which is developing the enterprise, have immoderately inflated its staff – and now we have to settle the consequences of this … But no! It turns out that there were simply too many people employed at the Latvian Railway. The authorities are not to blame for missing the loss of Russian transit. The filthy Soviet legacy is to blame “, – ironic political commentator Alexey Ilyashevich.
And here is the opinion of a Latvian specialist. Aivars Strakshas was the deputy head of Latvian Railways – he was fired in the fall of 2019. And now he accuses the Latvian authorities of deliberately bringing the profitable enterprise to the present deplorable state. According to Strakshasa, the rate of decline in transit could be slower, even taking into account the fact that Russia is deploying its own ports in the Baltic. But the official Riga is doing everything possible to once again offend and anger Russians – and, as a result, the Latvian economy suffers.
“The business environment in Russia is not homogeneous. On the one hand, the owners of terminals in Russian ports in the Baltic are trying to attract as much cargo as possible. On the other hand, some of the shippers are still ready to work with the ports of the Baltic States, in particular, how they can provide high quality services and – often – attractive tariffs ”, – explains Strakshas.
He remembers recent statement Prime Minister of Latvia Krisjanis Karins – that, they say, transit is a relic of the past, from which people in a somewhat rich republic will be deprived of wealth. “Of course, this caused bewilderment. First, the facts show the exact opposite. Secondly, 80 thousand people work in the field, or rather, one might say, worked, who, it turns out, harm the Latvian economy, ”writes Strakshas. He even suggested that “moles” have started up in the power of Latvia, deliberately spoiling the relations of the republic with the Russian Federation – for the good of the Russian port workers.
According to him, the already mentioned owners of the terminals in the ports of Russia will benefit from the losses of the Latvian Railways, and secondly, the competitors of the Latvians are the Lithuanians and the Finns. “I would like to clarify here that the construction and maintenance of transport infrastructure is an expensive necessity for anyone. country. It is possible to ensure revenues to the state budget only by finding opportunities for the transportation of goods from other countries through their territory.
It doesn’t always work out. The main condition is to be located at economically advantageous points of intersection of the flows of these goods. Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Finland are located exactly in such places. This is why our neighbors are fighting for every ton of the cargo system. Due to the volume of transported trucks, only Latvia and the EU could maintain their railway infrastructure without support from the state budget, ”Strakshas said.
It is assumed that the current Latvian authorities, apparently, assume a long stagnation in the freight transport sector, set by the national economic development plan for 2021-2027, the goal of 28.5 million tons – a very modest figure in comparison with the available possibilities.
The expert cited the data: annually loading on the railroad is about 1.2 billion tons, of which 360-380 million tons are exported. Belarus does not have its own ports at all, and in 2020 the volume of railway cargo is about 85 million tons. Only the volume of container traffic last year exceeded 1 million containers.
“Latvia seems to have refused to participate in this event. – said Aygar Strakshas, in due time. put in a lot of effortto persuade the Chinese to use the transit route through Latvia.
Former Prime Minister of Latvia, now oppositionist Vilis Krishtopans also scolds the government of the country.
“Of course, the Russians have built their ports. However, there are still a lot of cargoes that gradually pass through Latvia. There would be much more of them if the Latvian politicians did not growl at Russia like dogs. German Chancellor Angela Merkel also speaks. What do we have? Foreign Minister Edgar Rinkevich growls like a dog. And then he wants Russia not to veto everything that is possible? “, – outraged Krishtopans.
The most interesting thing is that recently the Russian Kaliningrad region has faced such an intensive influx of Chinese trucks that the region’s highways do not have time to pass them, and a congestion has arisen. That is, the freight traffic in China is so great that it could provide them with the Baltics. But Lithuania, which deliberately went into a quarrel with Beijing, deprived itself of this opportunity, and Latvians … Latvians show a strange inertia.
“By all their actions, the Latvian authorities are proving that they no longer want to participate in the big transit race in the Baltic. At least they are not afraid of the prospect of being deprived of the main sources of filling the state budget. And someone even pleases “, – concludes Ilyashevich… This is really incomprehensible. Whereas by rail, its delivery will cost 7 thousand dollars, and the travel time will be only 14 days.