TALLINN - Russian oil businessmen Andrey Katkov and Yevgeny Malov are reportedly the individuals who stand behind the Finnish firms that acquired 50 percent of Estonia's AS Sillame Sadam (Sillamae Port) last year. The two previously cooperated with Pakterminal, an Estonian Russian-language business weekly reported.
Last August Tiit Vahi, head of the Silmet Group and developer of Sillamae Port, said that the Finnish firms Kaakon Kuljetus-suunnitelu and Kaakon Holding were brought in as strategic investors for development of the port.
Other than the Finnish firms, Katkov and Malov reportedly own Kinex, the export arm of the Russian-based Kirishi oil refinery, itself a main supplier of gas products to the Baltics and part of the vertically integrated oil company Surgutneftegaz.
Until the middle of last year, the two men's main partner in Estonia was AS Paktermninal. They are reportedly also owners of Linkoil, a rail transport subsidiary of Kinex and Rossia Bank.
According to press reports, Katkov and Malov's cooperation with Pakterminal was recently interrupted, but since then they have focused on the development of Sillamae Port, where an oil terminal with a yearly capacity of up to seven million tons is planned to be built next year.
