Sillamäe port wants state to contribute €6 million to passenger terminal
Sillamäe, a town in North Estonia, and the port of Sillämae have turned to the government with a request for €6 million support with building a passenger terminal. The while the total projected cost of the plan is around €12 million.
"All of the necessary infrastructure is already there on the territory of the Sillamäe port, and if the project is added to the Ida-Viru County investment program, the works could be finished already in a year. The whole project costs €10-12 million, and the state would cover half of it," development director of the port, Andrei Birov, told ERR on Monday.
Building a passenger terminal would help restore the shipping route between Sillamäe and the Sourth-Finnish town of Kotka, Birov said. "The Finns are interested in the line, and Russia's St. Peter Line has considered adding Sillamäe to its St. Petersburg-Helsinki route," he added.
Building a passenger terminal at Sillamäe would boost tourism to Ida-Viru County and would help create jobs and attract investments, he thinks.
According to the town's mayor, Tõnis Kalberg, a passenger terminal would also help the region's socioeconomic development.
The government is planning to invest more than €200 million in the region in the framework of the Ida-Viru County development program. The program's implementation will start in the second half of the year.
The aim of the program is to help the economy of the area and increase the region's living environment's ability to attract investment. In addition, the program aims to slow down the outflow of young people and keep the region from falling behind.
Editor: Dario Cavegn
Source: BNS, ERR