Реферат: Trade in Estonia in the Past and Present

Сергей Голубев

Introduction

Inthis report, the commerce in Estonia is going to be described in differentperiods of time.

Trade in the past

Themost important Estonian trading centers during Middle Ages were still Tallinnand Narva, the first as a provincial centre and a transit harbor betweenWestern Europe and Russia. The Narva River served as a trading route to Pskov,Novgorod and Moscow.

TheBaltic trade was taken over by foreign merchants, mostly from North Germany,the Netherlands and later England.

Themost important export item was grain; flax from Russia and Estonia was the nextimportant. Russian shipbuilding materials, furs, wax and timber products weresent to Western Europe via Tallinn. It was by sea that the main Estonianimports such as salt (which was then taken to Russia and Finland), spices,wine, fruit, salt, textiles etc. were imported from the West, mainly from Spainand Flanders. Iron was shipped to Estonia from Sweden and tin from England.

Thetrading items remained almost the same during the Middle Ages, and partly alsolater.

Trade in our time

Nowadaystrade in the country has reached a significant level. Port of Tallinn is theleading cargo port in Estonia, as well as an important transit center ingeneral. It handles most of the cargo flows between Russia and Western Europe.

TodayEstonia exports various products: electronic devices and components of allkinds, and motor vehicle safety equipment, wood products, textiles, foodproducts, metals and chemical products also.

Machineryand equipment, chemical products, foodstuffs, metal products, textiles arebeing imported from Finland, Russia, Sweden, Germany and Japan.

Conclusion

Estoniais situated on a busy trading route between East and West and has always hadexcellent ports. It is clear that foreign trade and transit are therefore evermore and more important to the Estonian economy.