Economy of Estonia - Infrastructure

Infrastructure

Railway transport dominates the cargo sector, comprising 70% of all carried goods, domestic and international. Road transport is the one that prevails in the passenger sector, accounting for over 90% of all transported passengers. 5 major cargo ports offer easy navigational access, deep waters, and good ice conditions. There are 12 airports and 1 heliport in Estonia. Lennart Meri Tallinn Airport is the largest airport in Estonia, with 1,73 million passengers and 22,764 tons of cargo (annual cargo growth 119,7%) in 2007. International flight companies such as SAS, Finnair, Lufthansa, EasyJet, and Estonian Air provide direct flights to 27 destinations.

Approximately 7.5% of the country’s workforce is employed in transportation and the sector contributes over 10% of GDP. Estonia is getting much business from traffic between Europe and Russia, especially oil cargo through Estonian ports. Transit trade's share of GDP is disputed, but many agree that Russia's increased hostility is decreasing the share.

Instead of coal, companies are encouraged to burn oil shale, with stations mainly in Narva making around 75% of the country's energy. Other energy sources are natural gas imported from Russia, wood, motor fuels, and fuel oils.

Wind power in Estonia amounts to 58.1 megawatts, whilst roughly 399 megawatts worth of projects are currently being developed. Estonian energy liberalization is lagging far behind the Nordic energy market. During the accession negotiations with the EU, Estonia agreed that at least 35% of the market are opened before 2009 and all of non-household market, which totals around 77% of consumption, before 2013. Estonia is concerned that Russia could use energy markets to bully it. The government is considering granting permits to nuclear power companies and there are plans for a shared nuclear facility with Latvia and Lithuania.

Estonia has a high Internet penetration, and connections are available throughout most of the country.