Russian-Estonian railway freight hits record low

TALLIN, September 3 (RIA Novosti) - The rail freight traffic from Russia to Estonia in August hit a record low level of 16.1 freight trains per day, a 50% decrease, year-on-year, Estonia's national railway company said Monday.

In August 2006 the average rail freight traffic stood at 30.5 trains per day, Eesti Raudtee (EVR) said.

A total of 200 railway employees have already been fired as cargo traffic from Russia continues to decline, the company said.

The EVR said the volume of goods from Russia to Estonia has dropped 30% in four months following the April events surrounding the Bronze Soldier's relocation that soured diplomatic relations between Moscow and Tallinn.

However, Russian officials said the recent decline was due to the reconstruction of railway lines.

The relocation April 27 of the Bronze Soldier, a memorial to Soviet soldiers who died fighting in World War II, and the removal and reburial of soldiers' remains at the site, sparked a wave of angry protests both in Russia and Estonia, where ethnic Russians constitute about one-third of the population.