In doing so, the Russian government has expanded restrictions on commercial freight transport by trucks registered in Estonia, imposing a complete ban covering all categories of freight.

This follows the initial commercial freight transport ban on some EU origin carriers by Russia in October 2022. This covered essential goods such as meat, fish, dairy products, vegetables, confectionery, cocoa, grain products, alcoholic beverages, fertilizers, medicines, paper and cardboard.

A wide variety of items including watches, musical instruments, and cinema and audio equipment were also prohibited. Estonia became subject to the expanded restrictions in July 2023, and under the latest order, the Russian government has revoked all exemptions that had previously applied to cargo transport involving Estonia.

The new rules still include some geographic exemptions. For example, the restrictions do not apply to the Russian-held Kaliningrad exclave, or to shipments destined for specific areas in the Karelia, Murmansk, Leningrad and Pskov regions, the latter two being adjacent to Estonia.

Ministry: No major impact on Estonia's economy

Karel Lember, chief analyst at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, told ERR that sice trade between Estonia and Russia has been so limited in recent years, the new restrictions are not expected to have a significant impact, at least based on initial assessments.

"It is possible that there are individual companies and goods that will experience some disruptions, but overall there will be no impact on the Estonian economy," he said.

Before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine starting February 2022, Estonia's exports to Russia reached €70 million-€80 million during the spring months. In May this year by comparison, exports totaled €13.5 million: €4.8 million of that was goods of Estonian origin.

Statistics from the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) show that only a few dozen trucks cross the border each day, some of them empty.

"Consequently, the additional restrictions will primarily affect logistics companies which use vehicles with Estonian registration plates. The situation is also made easier by the fact that companies have had time to prepare for all kinds of border restrictions since 2022, so these measures no longer come as a surprise to anyone," Lember added.

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