Minister of Economy and Innovation of Lithuania Aushrine Armonaite said that Lithuanian companies that have suffered from sanctions against Belarus will not receive compensation from the state budget. Thus, Vilnius put at risk a large port enterprise in Klaipeda – a bulk cargo terminal, writes RuBaltic.
“I’ll tell you frankly: there can be no question of any subsidies,” said Armonaite.
Lithuanian companies are under threat because of the sanctions restrictions imposed by the United States on Belarus. Formally, these sanctions have nothing to do with the Baltics, but Lithuania decided that Eastern Europe should support Washington’s policy.
According to experts, if the sanctions against Belaruskali come into force, then from December fertilizers will completely stop flowing through the territory of Lithuania, which will lead to serious problems for the largest enterprise of the Klaipeda port – Birių krovinių terminalas (BKT).
It is BKT that serves almost the entire flow of fertilizers from Belarus passing through Lithuania. More than 10 million tons of fertilizers annually pass through this company, which is almost a quarter of the cargo of the Klaipeda port.
The general director of the terminal, Vidmantas Dambrauskas, noted that they receive conflicting documents, which they will have to follow after the entry into force of the sanctions. In his opinion, it is worth preparing for the worst-case scenario.
RuBaltic writes that in addition to BKT, the threat also looms over the Lithuanian Railways (LZD). The head of the enterprise, Mantas Bartushka, said that after the loss of goods from Belarus, Latvian Railways will need more than 60 million subsidies from the state budget.
It is noteworthy that the finance minister blamed the companies themselves for the negative consequences after the imposition of sanctions against Minsk. According to her, those who do business with Belarus “are already accustomed to surprises from the autocratic state.” However, it should be noted that both the Latvian Railways and the Klaipeda port have been successfully cooperating with Belarus for many years, as it is a reliable trade and economic partner.
“Lithuania itself turned out to be unreliable. For businessmen who want to invest in its economy, this will be a good lesson. Including for “Belaruskali”, which owns 30% of shares in the bulk cargo terminal in Klaipeda”, the newspaper’s experts concluded.