Estonian rail cargo volumes drop linked to sanctions

 The cargo volumes of the Estonian Railways are expected to drop by one fourth this year, at least partly due to the economic sanctions against Russia, head of the Estonian railways said on Wednesday.
Ahti Asmann, chairman of the board of the Estonian Railways, said that over the year the reduced cargo quantity amounts to 15 million euros of revenue loss, according to the Estonian Public Broadcasting (ERR).
The Russian share of Estonian exports is 11 percent, according to data from May. Compared to last year, exports to Russia dropped by a fifth while imports from Russia during the same period increased over 40 percent.
Asmann said transport of goods via railroad is a geopolitical business, of which results are directly dependent on international relations between countries.
Sanctions against a trade partner affect the railroad business negatively, the official said.
"It is rather difficult to estimate how much of this decline is related to the sanctions, but taking into account that the goods exported eastwards were controlled by companies and people on the US blacklist, we can attribute all reduction in cargo volumes to the sanctions," Asmann was quoted by ERR as saying.