Klaipėdos universitetas

This paper presents an overview of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities development in the Baltic Sea. The value of the paper lies in its seek to demonstrate how the process of interaction between the shipping and energy networks unfolds through infrastructural developments of ports. The analysis is based on mapping, cartographic and spatial contextual methods. The mapping of gas supply networks, LNG facilities and traffic patterns establish the originality of this research. It shows that factors motivating the development of LNG terminals in the Baltic ports come from areas of energy and maritime policy. Moreover, in future, the emerging LNG infrastructure may have an effect on port competition in the Baltic Sea Region.

Disintegration of the USSR and join of Baltic States to European Union made this one a border territory between Russia and EU. After the collapse of Former Soviet Union, the new boundary remained almost easy to cross. In the beginning of the 21th century, it became no more fuzzy but rather fixed. Since European enlargement that had taken place in 2004, the crossing has become more regulated. People need visas that meant administrative papers and cost. The evolution of cargo flows has been more contrasted. Economic policies, political stakes and traditional links, are elements to understand East Baltic area. Kaliningrad Oblast, the Russian exclave lying by the Baltic Sea, strengthens the interest of the purpose.

The Baltic Sea Region (BSR) appears as a specific space in which ports, maritime transport and the entire shipping cluster are crucially important. The BSR is one of the most heavily trafficked seas in the world, and maritime transport has contributed to its prosperity. After the collapse of the USSR, the Baltic Sea recovered its role as a contact and transit area. The opening up of the eastern shore to the market economy has brought about the reactivation of its maritime system, which over the years never stopped being a major element in the production of regional integration. Discourses on Baltic unity are often based on the importance of maritimity and maritime trade, but there is also a significant regional diversity in the shipping industry. Nowadays, the emergence of new directions in specialisation, and of new decision makers in ports, allows for new expectations and issues for Baltic ports. The author shows how, in this special Baltic context, ports and maritime stakeholders interact, participating in regional development and integration, but also by pursuing differentiated trajectories.

For the last 20 years, the Baltic Sea has been affected by many upheavals, not only geopolitical but also economic. They have forced