The Lithuanian authorities commented on the agreement signed by Moscow and Minsk on the transshipment of Belarusian goods in Russian ports. This was spoken by the Minister of Transport of Lithuania Marius Skodis on February 19. Meanwhile, the Lithuanian port operator estimated the consequences of refusal of Belarus from using Klaipeda terminals.
Belarus and Russia agreement agreement on the export of Belarusian oil products through Russian ports bypassing Klaipeda is unprofitable nor Lithuania nor Belarus, said the head of Lithuanian Ministry of Transport Marius Skodis in an interview with BNS. He complained that Minsk's actions were "reinforced by non-economic, but political arguments."
Recall, on the eve of the transport ministers of Belarus and Russia signed a package agreement on the organization of transshipment of exports of Belarusian petroleum products in the ports of St. Petersburg and Ust-Luga. As the Minister of Transport and Communications of Belarus, Alexey Avhramenko, stressed, the Russian side proposes "the absolute parity of prices with the Baltic ports, which is definitely mutually beneficial for both countries."
It is envisaged that in 2021-2023. 9.8 million tons of petroleum products will be shipped. Interest in new routes show such Belarusian enterprises as the "Belarusian oil company", "New Oil Company", "Mozyr Oil Refinery" and "Naftan".
"Belarusian cargo for February or later periods of time through the terminals Klaipedos NAFTA has not been stated. As the management of the enterprise believes, this indicates that the goods from Belarus through its terminals will not be sent this year - from such prerequisites, the company comes, "the company Klaipedos Nafta, which is the terminal operator in Klaipeda.
According to the minister, such a step will affect the port of Klaipeda, and in Lithuanian railways. Now the main task of Vilnius is to diversify the flow of cargo and the search for new shippers to "minimize the effect of fluctuations on the market for porting port and transportation by rail, and also reduce the risks of dependence on solutions of one country." The head of the Algis Latakas, head of the Klaipeda port, In 2019, export cargoes from Belarus amounted to 30.5% of the total port of the port, it is more than 14 million tons. This volume includes both petroleum products and loads "Belaruscalnia".
Recall, the reorientation of Belarusian goods into Russian terminals was the answer to the sanctions of the EU and the Baltic countries against Belarus after suppressing protests of opposition supporters. For details on the negotiations of Minsk and Moscow on the transfer of exports of petroleum products to Russian ports, see the author's video blog of Igor Yushkova "Energizier" on the channel "Eurasia.Expert".