Newly-privatized Operail resumes transporting goods to Russia

At the end of 2024, railway company Operail was privatized, as the state wanted to cease business with Russia. Now, as a private company, Operail is once again transporting goods to Russia, something the Estonian state cannot prohibit under the current sanctions.
Operail ceased transporting goods to Russia and other business in 2023 following a government order. However, the company, which had been state-owned, was privatized in December last year. The move meant the Estonian state exited the rail freight and rolling stock maintenance business.
This year, Operail will continue operating as a private company and transport freight from its former partner Baltic Oil Service to Russia.
Vjatšeslav Spirin, the head of Baltic Oil Service, did not want to appear on camera, but said what he had said to the media in the past remains valid.
Two years ago, Spirin told Estonian business outlet Äripäev that when the state imposed the ban, it was Latvian state railways that began transporting their goods in Operail's place. Now Operail is in private hands, it can resume transporting its goods once again.
Operail is owned by Tiigi Keskus, which also owns Tartu Mill. The company is run by Merle Kurvits, who also ran it when it was state-owned. Kurvits said that because rail freight volumes are very low in Estonia, Operail will work hard to win every tender.
"As part of this, we are transporting palm oil from Indonesia within Estonia, from the port of Paldiski to the border station of Koidula. We fully appreciate that sanctions against Russia are understandable, but if they are to be applied, they should be equal for all shippers. After all, if we were out of a job, the company would go out of business and workers would have to be laid off, while a competitor could easily take over the operation," Kurvits said.
According to Estonian Minister of Infrastructure Vladimir Svet, the state the state was planning to end freight transport to Russia in any case. The view was also taken that it was unethical for the Estonian state to transport goods from Russia.
"As a businessman, I wouldn't do something like that, and I think it was right that the state, as the owner of Operail, didn't do it. If we are going to tighten up the sanctions regime on all kinds of shipments, then it should be done in coordination with Latvia, Lithuania and, ideally Poland and Finland, even though the Finnish border is closed. So that it isn't the case that if we ban something, those same goods just go through Latvia," Svet said.
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Editor: Marko Tooming, Michael Cole