Baltic States – CIS, Estonia, Legislation, Railways, Transport

Chairman of the supervisory board Neeme Jogi told the newspaper that it will not be possible move forward with the second stage without the consent of the government. "As the company is going beyond its daily economic activity and set norms, we decided to ask for the consent of the shareholder," Jogi said.

Jogi, who had previously been critical of the plan, agreed with the management board this time, as he found that he had no reason or need to remain of a different opinion. "I noted also this time that I believe the risks to be extraordinarily higher, but if the shareholder is willing to take those risks, then the company must do everything in their power to ensure that the risks are not realized and that the result is a good one," he said.

The supervisory board signed their papers on Thursday, but Jogi was unable to say when the government's decision might be expected.

EVR Cargo on June 14 entered into a contract worth 17.8 million euros to buy 300 container platforms and 200 open wagons, which is the first part of a plan to invest 35 million euros in wagons.

EVR Cargo is planning to rent out the container platforms to major international customers who service the cargo carriage between China and Europe. The open wagons are to be rented out for carrying bulk goods on the growing Russian domestic market.

EVR  Cargo is an Estonian state-owned rail cargo operator that operates in the carriage of goods, repair of railway engines and freight cars, and renting out freight cars. With the new freight cars, EVR Cargo's rolling stock will consist of 66 engines and 3,022 cars. The average number of employees of EVR Cargo in 2016 was 684.

The company's loss in 2016 was 189,000 euros compared with a loss of 1.8 million euros the year before, while sales revenue fell 19.8% on year to 51.8 million euros. There was a change in the ratio of demand and supply on the freight car rental market, which considerably increased rental prices. The company's revenue from the renting out of freight cars grew 39% to 1.5 million euros.