Port of Ventspils

Port of Ventspils is one of the busiest ports in the Baltic states

The port of Ventspils is an Ice-free, deep-water sea port located in Ventspils on Latvia's Baltic coast. Its total area is 2451.39 hectares. By cargo turnover it is one of the Baltic Sea's busiest ports positioned in the top twenty of the list of leading European ports.

The port of Ventspils became a multimodal port when the harbour was significantly deepened in 1998, reaching a maximum depth of 17.5 meters in the liquid bulk area. This allowed the accommodation of the largest vessels then operating in the Baltic Sea, including Aframax-size tankers with maximum 150.000 metric tons deadweight (DWT). The dry bulk and general cargo area, with a depth of 16 meters, allows the terminal to accommodate Panamax-size vessels with their load capacities of up to 75.000 DWT.

Since 2002, the Freeport of Ventspils has been developing the industrialization process.

In the Financial Times release of the FDI Intelligence study in 2015, the Port of Ventspils was awarded for the global scale of operations, development of production buildings and infrastructure improvements.

History

The first written evidence of the port of Ventspils dates back to 1263. In the 13th century, a simple berth was built for merchant ships.

During the reign of Duke Jacob from 1642 to 1682, Ventspils became the main port of the Duchy of Kurzeme and Zemgale. Shipyards were active, selling more than 135 ships. Due to the unfrozen port, the import and export of goods of the Russian Empire through the port of Ventspils increased rapidly at the end of the 18th century. In the 19th century, piers, new berths, warehouses, cellars, elevators equipped with Japanese equipment and grain boilers were built and installed in the port of Ventspils. At the beginning of the 20th century, Ventspils became part of the Russian railway network, overtaking Liepaja in terms of freight transport.

The port of Ventspils lost its significance during the First and Second World Wars, but in the 1960s Ventspils regained the status of a transit center.

In the second half of the 1990s, the restructuring of Ventspils port began. The Port Administration (since 1997 - Ventspils Freeport Authority) became the manager and developer of the port territory. Since 1997, the status of the SEZ (Special Economic Zone) has enabled companies to receive significant tax incentives and to develop in a favorable investment environment. In 2002, the Ventspils Freeport Authority started to expand the port's industrial zone, attracting industrial producers to Ventspils.

Port services

All types of handling of liquid and dry bulk and general cargo as well as vessel services are available at the port of Ventspils, a majority of which are provided by private enterprises operating in the territory of the port and are as follows:

• Terminals - liquid cargo terminals, dry bulk cargo terminals, general cargo terminals
• Shipping agencies
• Ferries
• Tug services
• Ship bunkering
• Pilots - navigation of the vessel into the port
• Mooring
• Shipyard - docking, inspection, cleaning and other maintenance services
• Industrial diving
• Collection of Marine waste
• Ship chandler - supply of spare parts, food and rescue funds
• Offices for rent
• etc.

The Freeport of Ventspils

Ventspils port is managed by the Freeport of Ventspils, which is supervised by the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Latvia, under various statutory authorities:

• the 1994 Law on ports (regarding operations and procedures);
• the 1997 Ventspils Freeport Law (which provides for businesses within the port);
• the 2002 Law on Tax Application in Free Ports and Special Economic Zones, which regulates tax incentives for those businesses within the port.

The strategic goals of the Freeport of Ventspils Authority are:

• to maintain and strengthen the current positions of the port in the liquid and bulk cargo market;
• to attract new types of activities and services to the port;
• to develop industrial activities in the industrial territories of the Freeport.

The future prospects of Ventspils port are related to the expansion of the North Port in the sea direction, with a dedicated land of 100 ha.

The Port of Ventspils acts as a regional economic developer, supporting companies that specialize in creating high value-added services and products.

Industrial production

In the Freeport of Ventspils, more than 500 ha are intended for industrial production. The territory of Ventspils Industrial Park is adaptable to the production intentions of investors and is provided with the necessary infrastructure to start production (ready production premises, electricity, powerful IT, telecommunications). The land rent is adjusted in the amount of 0.25-0.5% of the cadastral value of the land with repurchase rights. In the initial stage of business operation, the support of the Ventspils High Technology Park (VHTP) Business Incubator in the field of infrastructure and services is available.

A multilingual workforce is available in Ventspils. One of the most prestigious vocational education and further education institutions - Ventspils Technical College-North Kurzeme Competence Center and Ventspils University College provides training of specialists of various levels in metalworking, mechatronics, engineering mechanics, automotive mechanics, energy, electronics, IT, telecommunications, radio astronomy, engineering, mechanical engineering. sectors. Ventspils industrial zone has excellent ICT (Information Communication Technologies) infrastructure and favorable conditions for the development of powerful data centers.

Industrial customers of Ventspils port industrial park

Company	Year		Country of origin	Field of operations
ARBO Windows	2014		Latvia	manufacture of wooden windows, doors and facades; construction
Baltic Forest Trading	2004		Sweden	woodworking; building materials
Bio-Venta	2008		Latvia	biodiesel production
Bucher Municipal	2005		Switzerland	manufacture of utility vehicles
Diana Sveces	2004		Denmark	candle production
EUROLCDS	2013		Latvia, Sweden	manufacture of liquid crystal display products
Forta Prefab	2015		Latvia	manufacture of building modules
FROLI Baltic	2006		Germany	manufacture of polyurethane products
HansaMatrix Ventspils	2005		Latvia	manufacture of electronic systems and components
Hydraulik Bauteile Baltic	2008		Germany	manufacture of hydraulic and pneumatic components
IMMER Digital	2017			manufacture of flexible packaging
Kurzemes granulas	2003		Latvia	manufacture of wood pellets
Malmar Sheet Metal	2006		Belgium	mechanical engineering metalworking
Pobeda Confectionery	2014		Russia	chocolate production
SQUALIO	2013		Latvia	software solution testing
Ventspils Augsto tehnoloģiju parks	2005		Latvia	support services for the development of high-tech companies
Ventspils elektronikas fabrika	2005		Latvia	manufacture of electronic systems and components
Ventspils metināšanas rūpnīca	2012		Ukraine	manufacture of large metal structures
Ventspils-Andren	2009		Latvia	manufacture of large - scale fiberglass industrial equipment
Wasserkabel Baltic	2017		Germany	heating and cooling systems

Terminals in Ventspils port

Ventspils port terminals provide all liquid cargo, bulk and general cargo handling services. The maximum depth of liquid cargo is 17.5 m, draft 15 m, length of ships 275 m. The maximum depth of bulk cargo is 16 m, draft - 15 m and length - 240 m. The maximum depth of general, ro-ro, container cargo is 14.5 m, draft - 14.1 m, length of ships - 240 m.

Lejamkravu termināļi

Terminals	Year	Type of cargo
Baltic Juice Terminal	2006	food and feed bulk
Vars	1991	chemical products
Ventall Termināls	2004	chemical products, petroleum products
Ventamonjaks serviss	2006	ammonia, chemical products, petroleum products
Ventbunkers	1994	diesel fuel, fuel oil, oil products
Ventspils Nafta Termināls	1961	oil products
VK Terminal Services	2006	oil products

Beramkravu termināļi

Terminals	Year	Type of cargo
Baltic Coal Terminal	2008	coal
Eurohome Latvia	2007	general cargo, bulk cargo, metal alloys
Kālija parks	1993	mineral fertilizers
Ventspils Grain Terminal	2005	grain
Ventspils Tirdzniecības osta	1994	coal, metal alloys, iron ore, peat, raw sugar

Ģenerālo kravu termināļi

Terminals	Year	Type of cargo
Noord Natie Ventspils Terminals	2000	container cargo, ro-ro, timber
Reefer Cargo Terminal	2011	frozen products
Ventplac	1995	bulk cargo, peat, round wood, timber, wood chips

Other port services

All service services are available at the Freeport of Ventspils 24/7: 12 cargo terminals of all types, 21 ship agencies, regular ferry traffic with Sweden, bunkering of ships, tugs, pilots, ship repair, divers, waste and polluted water reception, etc. services.

Transport connections

The port of Ventspils is included in the transport flow between the EU and the CIS countries and is the port of the TEN-T core transport network.

Ventspils is a part of the East-West railway corridor integrated into the Eurasian transport system. The dual-lane E-22 motorway of European significance leads through Ventspils, Ventspils Airport is also located in the territory of the Freeport of Ventspils. Ventspils is located ~ 2 hours drive from the largest air traffic center in Latvia - Riga International Airport (RIX).

Ferry traffic

Ventspils port provides 2 ferry lines from Ventspils to Sweden (Nyneshamn) and Germany (Traveminde). Since 2010, the number of ferry passengers has increased tenfold, as well as the volume of car and other cargo transportation has significantly increased.

Regular cargo and passenger transportation is provided by the largest ferry operator in Europe - Stena Line.

At one time - from 2006 to 2008 - ferry trips were made to Menta in Estonia. The ferry service was operated by Saaremaa Laevakompanii's subsidiary SSC Ferries by ferry MS Scania.

Special economic zone - tax relief

The Freeport of Ventspils is a special economic zone (SEZ). Tax relief may be applied to Ventspils Freeport companies by fulfilling certain criteria. Direct tax relief for real estate and corporate income tax can reach 80%, while the amount of investment compensation - 35% (55% for small companies, 45% for medium-sized companies).

In the study "Global Free Zones of the Future 2010/11", published in the British newspaper Financial Times, the Freeport of Ventspils was ranked fifth among the most promising free zones, as well as the best port free zone. zone 2010/11. The study showed that the port of Ventspils has some of the best conditions for the development of enterprises in the world.

According to the results of the study "Global Free Zones of the Future 2012/13" published in the Financial Times, the Freeport of Ventspils ranked seventh among the most promising special economic zones in the world and also ranked second among ports. Among special economic zones in Europe, this was the highest rating.

Infrastructure

Ventspils is on the East-West railway corridor and part of the Eurasian transport system, as well as European motorway route E22. Ventspils Airport is close by, and Riga International Airport (RIX) is approximately two hours' drive away.

External links

• Instagram profile
• Facebook profile
• Twitter profile
• Youtube profile
• Port of Ventspils
• Ventspils Freeport law
• In 2015, the Ventspils Freeport's 12th berth project was completed (reconstruction of the Venta sewerage pond, reconstruction of the existing railway and construction of the embankment)