The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has officially confirmed that Washington’s sanctions against Belaruskali, one of the world’s largest potash fertilizer producers and exporters, are not binding on Lithuania’s state-owned railways.
Belaruskali, considered a lifeline for the regime of Alexander Lukashenko, exports a large share of its production via Lithuania.
Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai (Lithuanian Railways, LTG) said on December 20 that it received OFAC’s letter on how the US sanctions should be treated on December 17.
However, Mantas Dubauskas, the state-owned railway operator’s spokesman, said that the company would continue to seek a solution on how to legally terminate its contract with Belaruskali.
“Together with the shareholder, we are currently looking for a sustainable legal solution to the situation,” LTG said in a statement. “The Belarusian company’s freight flow via Lithuania will be halted as soon as the necessary legal basis for doing so emerges.” (LRT/Business World Magazine)