Daily: Prime minister lays cornerstone for multi-purpose Paldiski quay
Prime Minister Kaja Kallas (Reform) laid the cornerstone for a new quay facility at the Port of Paldiski which will be able to accommodate both large volumes of military equipment and vehicles, and turbine parts to be used in the wind power sector, daily Postimees reports – also noting that the head of government made a symbolic gesture relating to the media during the cornerstone-laying ceremony.
Jüri Luik, Estonia's ambassador to NATO, appearing before the press after the Paldiski quay opening, noted the scale of the logistics in the disembarkation of military personnel and materiel from some of Estonia's allies – a US brigade supply convoy, even if the vehicles are close behind one another, can stretch well over 100km in length, he said.
In addition to military heavy equipment such as tanks and self-propelled guns, the Palriski quay can accommodated wind turbine masts, blades, nacelles and other related large items and, when it is finished, scheduled for July 2025, will be 300m in length and will cost around €56 million, Postimees reported.
The investment is being co-financed by the European Commission to the tune of €20 million through the military mobility project EstMilMob, and the remainder is financed by loans of between €20-27 million the Port of Tallinn announced to the stock exchange in May when it signed a construction contract with the Estonian branch of BMGS, a Latvian company which won the construction contract, together Insenerehitus AS.
A somewhat embattled Prime Minister Kaja Kallas was entrusted with the most important task of laying the symbolic cornerstone, which involved drilling a whole into a boulder and, in addition to placing the usual mortar and the stone itself, the head of government inserted a capsule containing one of many recent newspaper editorials to have recently criticized her leadership of Estonia, her party, her government and indeed her husband – and then mortared it over.
Postimees did not report which newspaper was so entombed.
The prime minister had been summonsed to appear Tuesday before a Riigikogu joint select committee hearing to answer questions about the business dealings of her husband, Arvo Hallik, more specifically those relating to Russia, but declined to do so.
Paldiski port is administered by the part-state-owned Port of Tallinn authority.
The new quay is being constructed at Paldiski Lõunasadam (South Harbor).
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Editor: Andrew Whyte
Source: Postimees
