Saimaa Canal rent to quadruple

Lorry backups to be eased

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Finland and Russia have reached preliminary agreement on the new terms for the lease on the Saimaa Canal, which runs from Lappeenranta in the southeast of Finland across the Russian border to the port of Vyborg. The canal establishes a shipping route from the Gulf of Finland to the Saimaa waterway.
     Under the agreement, Finland is to pay Russia EUR 1.2 million a year in compensation for use of the canal - four times as much as before.
     In addition to the fixed rate, there will be an extra charge based on the amount of shipping going through the canal. Last year the fees brought in EUR 90,000 a year.
     The draft agreement will now be circulated among interested parties in Finland and Russia for comments. The 50 year lease agreement will take effect immediately when it is ratified by the parliaments of both countries, something that is expected to happen next year.
     Ships navigating through the canal will be charged additional fees for services such as ice breaking.
     Total costs for Finland, rental fees included, add up to EUR 10 million a year.
     
The new agreement has been under negotiation for years, and the expiration of the old agreement has been a cause for concern.
     “The most successful years of the canal are still ahead. I hope that the market for passengers and goods will continue to grow”, said Minister of Transport and Communications Anu Vehviläinen (Centre).
     Vehviläinen sees the annual fee as “quite reasonable”, in spite of the significant increase.
     The rent was last re-examined in the 1990s.
     
Russia’s Minister of Transport Igor Levitinalso promised Finns that lorries carrying cars being imported into Russia would soon be allowed across the border by way of the Vaalimaa border crossing, which is likely to significantly alleviate the occasional backlogs at the Nuijamaa crossing. Russia also promised to speed up border formalities.
     Levitin expects that new fees to be implemented by Russia next year will reduce road transport of imported cars to Russia.
     Alternate forms of transport for imported cars are also being examined. Levitin said that the possibility of bringing cars from port to port, especially to the harbour of Ust-Luga on the south shore of the Gulf of Finland, will be considered. Ust-Luga has the capability of handling cars.
     The transport ministers said that they expect a fast rail link between Helsinki and St. Petersburg to start operating in 2010. The train journey between the two cities would take three and a half hours.
     A Finnish-Russian joint venture has already ordered four trains from France.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Suggestion to ease border tailbacks: trucks to cross Russian border at night-time (11.9.2008)
  Russian wood tariffs could threaten economic viability of Saimaa Canal (29.5.2007)
  Saimaa Canal: political symbol for 150 years (12.9.2006)

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