The urgency of the issues discussed in this paper stems from the fact that cross-border collaboration is an essential part of commercial transportation today. With the extension of multimodal transportation concept, the efficiency and performance of not only national but also of regional transport systems depend on a synergy which occurs as a result of cooperation between transport enterprises and different modes of transport. The present study analyses the situation of transportation field in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) in the period 2004–2011. The methodology used is based on Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA), correlation analysis, Bayesian analysis and affinity analysis, which help to identify countries with similar trends in the field of transportation and the common reasons and factors which have led to the emergence of these clusters.

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In 2012, the European Parliament (EP) established Sulphur Emission Control Areas (SECA) in Northern Europe comprising the North Sea, the Baltic Sea and the English Channel where from 2015 ships are obliged to use bunker fuel with a sulphur content not exceeding 0.1%. Estonia is a maritime fuel producer due to its oil shale reserves in the North-Eastern parts of the country (Ida-Virumaa County). A large part of oil shale is used for the production of maritime bunker oil. Unfortunately, the sulphur content of oil shale is higher than it is allowed by the SECA regulations. The Estonian oil shale industry represents up to 5% of the national economy and plays an important role in a weakly developed Ida-Virumaa County, which shares a common border with Russia and hosts the majority of Russianspeaking Estonians. Approximately half of this regional workforce is employed directly or indirectly in this industry giving the oil shale industry an important role in the county's economic well-being. In addition, periods of low oil prices are putting extra pressure on the oil sector, which endangers the traditional business model of the Estonian oil shale industry.

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