Entrepreneur: Dangerous fertilizer removed from Muuga Harbor
Scandagra, a leading provider of agricultural products and services in the Baltic states, has now removed 10,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate fertilizer from Muuga Harbor. The fertilizer, which had the potential to become explosive, was purchased from a Russian company, subsequently placed under sanctions due to the war in Ukraine.
According to Scandagra CEO Margus Venelaine, most of the fertilizer stored at Muuga Harbor, east of Tallinn has now been removed.
"All the fertilizer that we had to remove has now been taken away," Venelaine told ERR. "The amount of ammonium nitrate fertilizer there was close to 10,000 tonnes," he said.
The amount of fertilizer at the harbor was earlier reported as being approximately 12,000 tonnes.
According to Venelaine, the fertilizer has already been sold on the Baltic market. "It is an extremely necessary product for farmers," he said.
The fertilizer, which had been left stranded at Muuga's Dry Bulk Terminal (DBT) since the middle of last year, belonged to Russian chemical company Acron.
In the meantime, the Estonian Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority (TTJK) kept the fertilizer under constant observation to ensure the risk of it potentially becoming explosive remained minimal.
As the owner of the fertilizer was a sanctioned Russian company, and therefore not permitted to sell its goods in Estonia, the authorities had to find a way to move it from Muuga Harbor, without contravening EU law.
A solution was eventually found due to a legal provision, whereby the EU can grant an exemption for the transfer of sanctioned assets in cases where doing so is deemed necessary to prevent or avoid environmental hazards or situations, which may endanger human life or health.
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Editor: Michael Cole
