Ports of Eastern Baltic and Russian transit policy: competition and cooperation

The ports of the Baltic States have handled Russian cargoes for many years. Thus, there is no apparent need for Russia to reroute all freight flows to domestic ports. Eastern Baltic ports were just recently considered competitors, but the current geopolitical situation has drastically reshaped the framework for regional transport cooperation. Competition and cooperation strategies are often equally acceptable for the ports of the Eastern Baltic. Yet volatility in global commodity markets, the unstable positions of leading exporters and importers, and changes in the economic and political environment call for new strategies and forms of collaboration. This study aims to understand to what degree port authorities in the Eastern Baltic can combine competition and cooperation policies when formulating their development concepts and handling transit cargoes. The article draws on official statistics and Russian and international publications on the theory and practice of transport routing and the functioning of hub infrastructure. The methods of case study and statistical and comparative analysis are adopted to outline the current situation in the ports of the Eastern Baltic and a variety of ways for the ports to attract more cargo flows from Russia. The article tests the hypothesis that Eastern Baltic port authorities should pursue a co-opetition strategy. The study concludes that, in the immediate future, this strategy can be employed only in cases of extraordinary circumstances, for example, at peak loads.