BPO report: Baltic Sea region – a new scene for Baltic ports.

During last Baltic Ports Conference, held in Gdynia on 7-8 of September 2022, we launched the report: Baltic Sea region – a new scene for Baltic ports. 

Six months have passed since Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, which began on February 28, 2022. The war in Ukraine is primarily the suffering of Ukrainian society. The war means the destruction of the country, civil and transport infrastructure.
It is also a blockade of seaports and very limited trade opportunities.

The West introduced sanctions against Russia and Belarus, limiting the trade of selected commodities and goods. As a consequence, Russia introduced counter-sanctions and started limiting gas supplies to Europe. European countries, including the Baltic ones, found themselves in a new energy situation, which forces them to look for new directions of fuel supplies. Some of them decided to implement new projects to increase their energy security, e.g. new LNG import terminals.

In the area of security, Sweden and Finland decided to join NATO. At the same time, NATO is increasing its presence in the so-called eastern flank.

Due to the above-mentioned events, the Baltic Sea Region has become the scene of major political and economic changes. Moreover, an increase in energy commodity prices, high inflation, and a slowing economic situation increase concerns about international trade. Obviously, this has consequences for the Baltic ports, which are involved in handling goods exchange and sea tourism. Ports also play an important role in ensuring the security of supply, they are energy hubs.

In the presented report, we wanted to outline this new complex scene that is a mix of many economic and political factors. The Baltic ports function on such a complex stage. We hope that reading the report will allow for a better understanding of the situation in the Baltic Sea Region. To carry out the report, we invited experts and analysts from the following institutions: Interlegal (Ukraine), Center for Eastern Studies, University of Gdansk, and Actia Forum.