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The Estonia will celebrate its 105th anniversary of independence on February 24.
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On January 23, the keel-laying ceremony of the floating dock being built for BLRT Grupp took place at the Hat-San Shipyard.
The event was attended by the Estonian Ambassador to Turkey, Annely Kolk, and Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure of Turkey, Selim Dursun.
“To ensure that our customers can access services in a region convenient for them in the future, we have decided to invest in the development of ship repair in Tallinn; a 180-metre long and 30-metre-wide dock currently under construction at the Hat-San Shipyard will be the Tallinn Shipyard’s largest one, giving us the possibility to accommodate Handysize vessels as well,” – said the Chairman of the Management Board of the Tallinn Shipyard Sergei Kravchenko. “The new dock will secure the further expansion of our vessel repair and upgrade capabilities and contribute to reducing environmental impact.”
In his welcome speech, Mustafa Pepe, a Hat-San Shipyard Management Board member, voiced hope that the project will serve as the basis for long-term collaboration between the Turkish shipyard and the BLRT Grupp corporate family.”
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In December 2022, specialists from Bars Elekter, a company within the BLRT Grupp conglomerate, completed the commissioning operations covering the connection of two Tallink Grupp’s cruise ferries – M/S SILJA EUROPA and M/S VICTORIA I – that are currently docked at the Port of Amsterdam (the Netherlands) and Port of Edinburgh (Scotland), respectively, onto 11 kV high-voltage on-shore power supply systems. The works were held at the docking ports above.
Presently, both ferries are operating as floating accommodations. Before the connection, the vessels had used their diesel generators to sustain their essential functions during docking, resulting in considerable fuel consumption. However, while saving fuel and decreasing noise levels, connecting the ships to the on-shore power supply facilities has also reduced the negative environmental impact.
Two years earlier, Bars Elekter fitted both vessels with shore connections, including control interfaces. During the December commissioning, Bars Elekter customised the standard shore connections installed to meet local safety regulations in case of long-term port calls.
“Our main priority is to carry out all works to the highest standard possible and within the contractual timeframes, so that the customer can start using their equipment. Our experience in adapting standard solutions to the needs of ports in different countries has enabled us to meet the challenge this time as well,” says Oleg Pljusnin, a member of the Bars Elekter Management Board.
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BLRT Era has become an official repair and maintenance key partner for Moteurs Leroy-Somer SAS’ electric generators and alternators developed by Moteurs Leroy-Somer SAS.
In November, BLRT Era signed a contract with the French company Moteurs Leroy-Somer SAS for the exclusive maintenance and repair of their electric generators and alternators in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Finland. Before that, Estonian and Lithuanian specialists from BLRT Era had received appropriate training.
“The contract will enhance the performance capabilities of BLRT Era and will position them to offer their customers new generators, and provide repair, upgrade, and maintenance services for Moteurs Leroy-Somer products manufactured for vessels as well as for other industrial facilities, with those products being covered by the manufacturer’s warranty,” explains Oleg Pljusnin, a BLRT Era Board member.
Moteurs Leroy-Somer SAS, a part of the international Nidec Group, is a leading global manufacturer of electric generators and alternators.
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A steel cutting ceremony was held to mark the start of construction of a new dock for the BLRT Grupp’s shipyard in Tallinn.
The 180-metre-long, 30-metre-wide, 10,000 tons lifting capacity floating dock is currently being constructed at Hat-San Shipyard in Turkey. The dock is scheduled to be completed in spring 2024.
The new dock will replace the existing one – 155 m long and 27 m wide – and will be able to accommodate Handysize vessels in addition to all the other cargo carriers currently welcomed at the shipyard.
Over 270 ships a year are repaired, upgraded and maintained at the BLRT Grupp’s ship repair yards in Estonia, Lithuania and Finland. The acquisition of the new dock will work towards expanding the capacity of Tallinn Shipyard by opening the possibility to accommodate larger vessels. Furthermore, ships calling at Estonian ports, which previously had to turn to other shipyards of the holding due to a lack of technical capabilities at Tallinn Shipyard, will now be able to come there.
“The new dock construction is yet another step of the investment programme for the ship repair segment of the industrial holding aimed at a significant expansion of the facilities and resources made available to ship owners at our shipyards. Over the last five years, we have invested more than 75 million euros into that segment, and we have every intention to proceed with the investments in the future,” commented Veronika Ivanovskaja, a member of the BLRT Grupp Board.
The construction agreement for the new dock was signed in the late summer of 2022.
BLRT Grupp is one the largest industrial holdings in the Baltic region. The group operates Tallinn Shipyard in Estonia, Western Shiprepair in Lithuania and Turku Repair Yad in Finland, providing comprehensive 24/7 vessel repair and upgrade services.
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In October, the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry announced the most competitive Estonian companies of 2022. Elme Metall, a subsidiary of BLRT Grupp, was recognised as the most competitive wholesale company of the year.
Mait Palts, CEO of the Chamber, acknowledged the company’s contribution to the development of the industrial field while presenting the award to Georgi Grigoryan, Chairman of the Elme Metall’s Board.
“Outstanding achievements such as this one are only possible on account of the effort invested by the close-knit team of Elme Metall, with its representatives in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland and Poland, and of many reliable customers and partners,” claimed Georgi Grigoryan.
A total of 1826 Estonian businesses and enterprises participated in the contest this year, including 383 wholesalers.
The ranking is drawn up by the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry together with the Estonian Institute of Economic Research (EKI), which runs technical calculations and assists with drawing up ranking charts in cooperation with the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne. The rankings are drawn based on companies’ performance indicators for the last two years, including sales revenue, net profit, labour costs, equity capital, and annual average number of employees.
This year, using data submitted by the contestants, the institutions above calculated respective rankings in thirteen areas of economic activities, taking the company size into account.
The competitiveness ranking is drawn to facilitate growth in competitiveness among Estonian companies and thereby promote faster economic growth. The rankings highlight the most successful companies. The contest is an excellent opportunity for successful companies to introduce themselves to the public and thereby secure their competitive position. The history of the Estonian Companies’ Competitiveness Ranking dates back to the year 2003.
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Representatives of BLRT Grupp and its subsidiary Elme Metall hosted the Turkish Ambassador Başak Türkoğlu and delegation of the Turkish Steel Exporters’ Association in Tallinn.
On October 24, B2B meetings were held with the participation of 14 Turkish steel exporters and representatives of Elme Metall. The next day, the Turkish delegation visited the group’s industrial area in Kopli to understand the local business culture and promote business opportunities between the regions.
The activities of BLRT Grupp were introduced during the visit of members of the Turkish Steel Exporters Association to Estonia and Latvia with the aim of strengthening their presence in the Baltic market and forming new business alliances.
The B2B event was organized by the Turkish Steel Exporters’ Association in cooperation with export consulting company Gateway&Partners. The delegation of Turkish companies was leaded by Adnan Aslan, Chairman of the Board of the Steel Exporters’ Association.
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Alar Karis, President of the Republic of Estonia, visited BLRT Grupp on October 20. Corporate executives gave the Head of State an overview of the group’s activities, followed by a discussion covering the market situation and prospects of the industry and the group’s coping with the high energy prices and the looming economic crisis.
The visit started with a presentation and a tour that took the Head of State through the timeline and operations of the BLRT corporate group, giving a good picture of the scale of operation of the entire corporate group. The group’s presence in Ukraine was also brought up during the visit, as Elme Messer Gaas, a BLRT Grupp’s joint venture in Ukraine, is presently virtually the only industrial and medical gas producer and supplier there to cover local needs.
There was no getting around the current labour market situation, a major issue for many industrial companies, including the BLRT Group, which still faces an acute shortage of skilled professionals.
At the end of the visit, the President wrote that he was impressed by the reach and depth of BLRT Grupp’s operations. The Head of State wished the group family continued success and good luck for the coming decades, claiming that, in his view, the achievements to date provide a solid foundation for future projects implementation.
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The Baltic Sea Day was celebrated at Noblessner Marina on August 25. The day saw discussions of the current situation and future of the Baltic Sea, with pollution being one of the gravest environmental concerns.
Several events took place during the day, including seminars dedicated to the numerous environmental problems of the Baltic Sea.
A discussion panel titled “The sea starts from the coast – Environmental problems and protection measures on different coasts of the common sea” was held at the Noblessner Foundry. The panel participants included Matti Vanhanen and Jüri Ratas, Presidents of the Finnish and Estonian Parliaments; Sven Sakkov, Estonian Ambassador to Finland; Tarmo Soomere, President of the Estonian Academy of Sciences; and Kai Myrberg, Senior Researcher of the Finnish Environment Institute.
Tarmo Soomere, President of the Estonian Academy of Sciences, said that, although the Baltic Sea is one of the most polluted seas in the world, its water condition had improved compared with the one about half a century ago.
“The improvement of the marine environment starts with us,” he pointed out. “It starts with us not throwing cigarette butts on the ground and carefully considering how we can store and use fertilizers not causing environmental damage. It starts with us treating wastewater from cities and residential areas. For instance, the Tallinn Water Treatment Plant removes about 99.5% of pollutants and substances that should not be released into the sea.”
In addition to plastics, most of the litter found in the Baltic Sea and coastal areas is cigarette butts and cigarette filters, which are environmentally harmful and nondegradable. One cigarette butt poisons up to 1 000 litres of water, and the toxic substances it emits may persist in the water for up to 10 years, posing a deadly threat to marine life. Nearly eighty tonnes of cigarette filters enter the Estonian environment every year.
“Protecting the Baltic Sea has many important aspects, with environment and safety being especially crucial,” said Timo Kantola, Finnish Ambassador to Estonia.
That was precisely why our Northern neighbours arranged for the Norppa, an oil spill response vessel of the Helsinki Rescue Board, to visit Noblessner Marina for the occasion.
“She is a multipurpose vessel. First, she is an oil spill response vessel equipped with on-water oil recovery systems deployed in case of environmental incidents. She also has fire-fighting equipment to battle island fires inaccessible for regular fire engines,” told Samuli Saarioinen, Fire Officer at Helsinki City Rescue Department.
On top of everything else, a Pop-up Finnish Embassy opened its doors for the day. In addition, representatives of the Ministry of the Environment offered explanations and a demonstration of rational fishing, detailing fish species allowed to be caught from Estonian rivers and lakes and the fishing rules applicable.