Russians And Finns Meet At The Border

<BR>At A Russian-Finnish meeting held 15-18 October in St Petersburg, one of the most controversial issues was port fees. <BR>Russia was represented at the talks by Transport Minister Sergei Frank and a team of federal civil servants responsible for various aspects of transport and logistics issues. "In the last few years, the Finns have pushed up fees on average by 30%," said Sergei Frank, "although this is an artificial increase." <BR>Lev Shoikhet, deputy director of the RF car transport department and a member of the delegation, told DP that a revision of Russian cargo transport regulations, bringing them in line with EC standards, was on the talks agenda. Plans were also mentioned for customs escorts for those carriers who have suffered from non-delivery of cargo. Furniture, chocolate, video equipment and cars are among the cargoes most frequently lost.