Norma-A, which provides passenger transport under the brand Ecolines, will resume direct bus services between Riga and St. Petersburg from February 1, representatives of Ecolines confirmed to LETA.
At the same time, the company said that the bus from Riga to St Petersburg will run once a day, crossing the Russian border in Luhamaa, Estonia. The bus is scheduled to leave Riga at 20:20 every day. The journey will take approximately 13 hours and 40 minutes.
From St Petersburg, the bus will leave daily at 22:20, taking about 14 hours and 15 minutes, according to information on the Ecolines website.
The company also explained that the existing connections in Tallinn are hampered by the Ivangorod border crossing between Russia and Estonia, which will be closed for reconstruction works from February 1.
Buses from Tallinn will therefore run to the north-eastern Estonian border in Narva, where passengers will be able to cross the border on foot and then take a bus waiting on the Russian side, the company said.
Andris Podgornijs, chairman of the board of Ecolines, told LETA that the company had previously operated bus traffic to St Petersburg and would continue to do so. “The only thing that is changing now is the closure of the Ivangorod border crossing,” Podgornijs stressed.
According to Firmas.lv, Norma-A turnover in 2022 was EUR 24.59 million, up 87.2 percent year-on-year, while the company’s profit rose 2.4 times to EUR 1.201 million.
The company was registered in 1993 and has a share capital of EUR 4,738,998. Norma-A is 82.17 percent owned by Ecolines Estonia, while 9.86 percent is held by Andris Podgornijs and 7.97 percent by Jegors Ribzamens, who are also the company’s beneficial owners through Ecolines Estonia.
Source: BNS
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