The Pärnu city government signed a design and construction contract for the construction of a new bridge in Pärnu worth 26.7 million euros with the engineering and construction companies INF Infra OÜ and AS EG Ehitus, which won the state tender.

"Today is definitely a historic moment. For decades, there has been talk of building a new bridge over the Pärnu River, and for the past five years we have been intensively working on finding solutions to several problems - the selection of the bridge's location, detailed planning, construction procurement, financing of the bridge," said Romek Kosenkranius, the Mayor of Pärnu.

"We understand the importance of the new bridge and will make the maximum contribution to the success of the project. Besides shipping and energy, Infortar has also become one of the largest real estate and mineral resources and the fastest growing engineering construction company, we have put together a very experienced team to build bridges and infrastructure objects," said Ain Hanschmidt, chairman of the board of Infortar.

"We use innovative solutions and technologies in the, which allow the people and the city of Pärnu to significantly save time and money, and ultimately get the bridge completed earlier and at a more affordable price. Innovative construction technology helps to reduce construction cost, completion time and environmental impact," said Robert Sinikas, board member of INF Infra OÜ.

INF Infra received maximum points for the Pärnu bridge tender: their offer was the cheapest and the construction time was the fastest. The price offered by INF Infra was 26,666,665 euros including VAT and the construction time is 22 months.

The new bridge in Pärnu will be the longest bridge in Estonia, with a span of 140 meters. It will also be the longest net arch bridge in the Baltics and Finland. The authors of the bridge are engineers Andreas Papp and Dmitri Gorbatjuk from Stricto Projekt OÜ.

Eesti Gaas has signed an agreement to acquire the Latvian gas distribution network owned by Gaso, a subsidiary of Latvijas Gaze, for 120 million euros. The completion of the transaction is subject to approval from the Latvian Competition Authority and permission from the Latvian government, as Gaso is considered a strategic asset.

“We see a future in gas and know how to do this business and grow it. We hope that we can share our experience as a gas network operator and that the change of ownership will help the company continue to grow and provide the best service to Latvian gas consumers,” said Ain Hanschmidt, Chairman of the Board of Eesti Gaas.

“With the support of Infortar, Eesti Gaas has developed from a local gas supplier to the largest privately owned energy company in the region, with about 70% of our sales volumes coming from foreign markets. The acquisition of the Latvian gas network is another important step in the expansion of Eesti Gaas as a Baltic Sea energy company. The Latvian gas network is almost four times larger than the one in Estonia, serving about 400,000 consumers. Like the rest of Europe, we see gas playing an important role as a transition fuel and a supporter of renewable energy. The prospect of gas use encourages us to invest in gas networks – we have signed the agreement and are waiting for the decision of the Latvian government,” added Hanschmidt.

Infortar, major owner of Eesti Gaas and Tallink, being Estonia's largest investment company with more than one billion euros in assets and operating in energy, shipping and real estate, aims to go public in the near future.

"Infortar has grown so big that the next logical step is to be listed and public. Expanding our investor base and joining the stock exchange gives us the opportunity to grow even faster internationally, to increase the value of our assets and to find additional financing opportunities," said Ain Hanschmidt, Chairman of the Management Board at Infortar. 

"Our investment portfolio is diverse and cross-border, the lion's share of the group's income comes from foreign markets. The energy, shipping and real estate companies in which Infortar participates have proven themselves in crises and have great growth potential - we plan to continue investing in energy and real estate projects, while Tallink has its own decision-making processes and an investment plan independent of us," Hanschmidt said.

"The goal of going public has been set, the advisers have been chosen and the initial preparations have been made, but the more precise time frame depends on what is happening around us - no one can see behind the curvature of the earth after all. We are investors ourselves and we want to offer other investors a unique value share, meaning dividend security, real success and assets, not only in the future but also today," Hanschmidt said.  

On February 10, the winners of the contests 25 Most Beautiful Estonian Books and 5 Most Beautiful Estonian Children's Books and recipients of special prizes were announced in the Estonian Writers' House. Printing house Printon received a total of 10 awards, among them 1 special award and 2 awards in the category of children's books! Two juries were formed to select the most beautiful books. 135 books participated in the competition of the 25 most beautiful Estonian books, and there were 43 works in the category of the most beautiful Estonian children's books. A total of 178 works from 85 publishing houses were evaluated.

Eesti Gaas has made agreements with LNG terminals to bring a total of ten LNG cargos by the fall of this year – three deliveries to the port of Klaipeda in Lithuania in the winter and seven to the port of Inkoo in Finland in the spring and summer.

“Our gas now comes from the west and by tankers, cooperation with both large LNG terminals in the Finnish-Baltic region and the gas storage in Latvia gives us stability. Our ten LNG cargos will bring security of supply to customers and, hopefully, together with the gas also comes price stability,” said Margus Kaasik, CEO of Eesti Gaas.

“In the big picture, natural gas is making a comeback. The use of natural gas is increasing again since the security of supply in Europe is good and the price is in a downward trend. Gas price has returned to pre-war price levels, and gas is once again cheaper than, for example, light heating oil or propane. Several customers on our different markets, who used alternative fuels in the meantime, are already returning to natural gas today,” Kaasik said.

Last year, Eesti Gaas procured five shiploads of LNG for its customers through the port of Klaipeda. The LNG tanker Aristidis I from the United States arrived at the Lithuanian Klaipeda terminal in May, Diamond Gas Crystal from the United States and Arctic Princess from Norway in June, Isabella from the United States in October, and Arctic Aurora from Norway in November.

In January, Equinor’s LNG tanker Isabella delivered this year’s first cargo from the United States to the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda. In March, Eesti Gaas will bring two more cargos to Klaipeda and in the spring and summer seven more to Inkoo.

The investment company Infortar expanded its real estate portfolio by purchasing the next loft-office type commercial building located in the Tähesaju Business Campus in Lasnamäe. "For Infortar, real estate is as important as investments in the field of maritime transportation and energy. Today, the real estate market is changing and offers opportunities, we look at it with an open mind and a persistent will, the goal is to further increase the size of our real estate portfolio in the near future," commented Ain Hanschmidt, chairman of the board of Infortar. The building completed in September at Tähesaju Street 9 in Lasnamäe combines retail, service, office and warehouse spaces. Koffisemu, Mereneid Trading, Skyadvert Network and other companies operate in the commercial building.

Alexela and Infortar completed the construction of the Paldiski LNG terminal mooring point on 28 October, few days earlier than the promised deadline, the port is now ready to start navigation and receive LNG carriers.
The world record has been achieved and the promise made in the spring has been fulfilled - as far as we know, no one has built an LNG terminal anywhere in the world only in 6 months. We would like to thank all - more than 200 people who, from spring to today, have been working towards this goal.
What's next you ask. Right now we kindly ask you to salute all the people involved for the incredible accomplishment. Also before making any next decisions, we want to make sure that the gas equipment by Estonia's gas and electricity transmission system operator will be installed so the gas reception capacity will be established in Paldiski LNG terminal by the end of this November. 

On August 28, commemorative plaques with the symbolic footprints of three famous Estonian artists – singers Teo Maiste, Mati Palm and stage/film director and comedian Sulev Nõmmik - were opened on the sidewalk between the Viru hotel and the Estonian National Opera.

The author of the memorial plaques is the sculptor Tiiu Kirsipuu, the completion of the sculptures was supported by Infortar, and the tablets were put into the street pavement with the help of the Tallinn City Goverment. Arne Mikk, the initiator of the wonderful tradition, Ott Maaten, the general director of the Estonian National Opera, Ain Hanschmidt, the chairman of the board of AS Infortar, spoke at the opening.

There are already 40 tablets commemorating famous Estonian artists around the theatre.

On August 23, the cornerstone of a new office building was laid on Liivalaia street, the nine-story commercial building will be completed in one of Tallinn's busy areas already in the spring of next year.

"We are bringing our investments, i.e. subsidiaries from the city, together in one building, at the same time we will significantly increase the value of our real estate portfolio and assets, and the city will also get a nice building." Real estate is the third important field for us, next to shipping and energy, in which we see significant growth in the coming years, this week it is already the second cornerstone for us - on Monday we started the second phase of the Hiiu health campus," said Ain Hanschmidt, chairman of the board of Infortar.

Chief construction worker Inf Ehitus board member Ahto Aruväli said that in today's unpredictable situation, the prerequisite for success is the existence of trust and support between the client, the architect and the builder. "In this case, it is still a demanding object and quite a challenge for the builder, especially due to the complex location and the smallness of the plot - all this requires good planning, a professional team and the ability to be flexible when necessary," said Aruväli.

According to Indrek Tiigi, the architect of the office building and chairman of the board of Allianss Arhitektid, the high-rise building will have a minimalist formal language, and it will offer good views of the whole of Tallinn. "The building has been designed with a good working environment as a priority - the workspaces have been created with exemplary access to natural light and panoramic views. We envisioned a big change in the solution of Süda street, where we will build a boulevard in the front part of the building," said Tiigi.

The closed gross area of ​​the nine-story building at Liivalaia 9, one of Tallinn's busiest streets, is 7,500 m2. The building will be energy efficient and will be equipped with modern and healthy indoor climate systems. The facade is covered with anodized aluminum and perforated aluminum lamellas providing additional sun protection. A bicycle storage facility will be located in the building to promote healthy modes of movement and carbon-neutral transport.

On August 22, the cornerstone was ceremonially laid for health center building, where Kivimäe Family Medical Centre, Haldja Dental Clinic and Vilde Farmacy will start operating from the beginning of next year. According to Ain Hanschmidt, chairman of the board of Infortar, in addition to top hospitals, primary medicine also needs development, better working conditions and environment than before. "If Infortar means this step forward in the development of the Hiiu health campus and the growth of the Kivimäe Family Medical Centre, it shows the concentration of services in modern health centers," said Hanschmidt. According to Lembi Põlder, manager of the Kivimäe Family Medical Centre, they are extremely happy that thanks to the cooperation with Infortar, the Kivimäe Family Medical Centre has the opportunity to expand and offer its patients even better care than before. "Thank you for the supportive attitude of the Nõmme district and all the residents of Nõmme, whose health concerns we have been able to find a solution to. We hope that the new premises and the expanding centre will also provide an opportunity to expand our team, and through this the satisfaction of patients will also increase and the availability of medical care close to home will improve," said Põlder. The Kivimäe Health Centre is located on the border of Nõmme and Kivimäe in the ecologically valuable park at Põllu 63. The building to be completed at the beginning of next year the architect is Indrek Suigusaar from Pluss Architects, and the main construction contractor is INF Ehitus, a member of the Infortar group. Kivimäe health center is the second building of Hiiu health campus, the first one was completed in 2016.

The thirtieth golf tournament Niitvälja Karikas by Infortar brought many unexpected solutions to the competition and excitement was shared until the very last moments, when one additional course in sudden-death format had to be played to determine the winner of the men's class. The winner was Mattias Varjun with a final score of 210 shots (-6). Anete Liis Adul won the women's class with a result of 227 shots (+11), Gunnar Kobin was the best among the male seniors with a result of 234 shots (+18). The main supporter of Estonia's oldest golf cup competition sends the best greetings to the winners, organizers and all participants!

The common goal of the two Estonian companies is to launch the terminal by November this year and thus ensure the security of supply to consumers.

“In our opinion, the liquefied natural gas terminal in Paldiski should be a public terminal. It is expected that other market participants, as well as investors, will join the project. If the government sets an exact deadline for phasing out Russian gas, and Elering builds a pipeline connection, the private sector will be able to solve the problem by joint efforts and launch the terminal by the beginning of the heating season this year,” said Mr Heiti Hääl, Chairman of the Board of Alexela Group, announcing that the investment company Infortar joins the LNG terminal project in Paldiski.

“Estonia and the Baltic Sea region as a whole need diverse and sustainable energy solutions to maintain competitiveness and economic development. Residential consumers, industry, transport and heat generation expect convenience, reliability and safety from the new energy – all this is provided by new generation LNG gas. For Estonia, the construction of the terminal would also mean a historic opportunity to play the role of an “energy battery” for the entire region,” said Mr Ain Hanschmidt, Chairman of the Board of AS Infortar.

The LNG terminal in Paldiski will be built in two phases: the first phase includes the construction of a connection between the berth and Balticconnector, as well as the rental of a floating terminal, while the second phase will build a permanent solution for the terminal. The cost of the terminal infrastructure, which will be completed this autumn, reaches 40 million euros. Negotiations are underway on the lease of a floating terminal, a tender for construction will be completed in the coming days, and the first prepayments for the supply of building materials have been made. This month, dredging and construction of the mooring pit will begin in Pakrineeme.

Alexela and Infortar are also cooperating with Latvian and Finnish market participants to ensure energy security in all three countries during the coming heating period. In addition to Estonia, the LNG terminal in Paldiski will cover at least 80% of Finland’s gas needs.

Alexela and Infortar have many years of cooperation experience in OÜ Eesti Biogas, Estonia’s largest jointly owned biomethane plant producing biomethane from local feedstock in Vinni in Lääne-Viru County, Ilmatsalu in Tartu County and Oisu in Järvamaa. In addition to Paldiski, Alexela is building an LNG terminal in Hamina in Finland. Through its subsidiaries, Infortar has one of the most extensive shipping and LNG competencies in the region. Last year, Estonia’s first LNG bunkering vessel Optimus was built on Infortar’s order.