Steel transit to Kaliningrad made up only an insignificant share of freight shipments by Lithuanian Railways (LTG), Transport Minister Marius Skuodis said on June 22.
The ban of the rail transit of steel and other ferrous metals between Russia and its exclave of Kaliningrad via Lithuania has been factored into the overall impact of EU sanctions on the state-owned railway company.
“As far as transit to Kaliningrad is concerned, when it comes to the impact on our transport sector, we have already factored in the impact of sanctions,” Skuodis told reporters at Vilnius Airport.
“We estimate that LTG will transport about 50% less freight than planned this year. There is nothing new here from the perspective of the transport sector,” the minister said.
“I am calling on everyone to refrain from harsh rhetoric without even looking at the figures,” he added. “When it comes to steel that is subject to the sanctions, the figures are so small that you could lose them in the rail network.”
The minister would not comment on what countermeasures Russia could take in response to the Kaliningrad transit sanctions and whether Lithuania was ready for them.
LTG spokesman Mantas Dubauskas said on June 22 that the company had informed its customers in Kaliningrad the day before the sanctions came into force.
“Information about the sanctions – what they are and when they come into force – is made public and is available to both businesses and customers. And customers were informed so that such goods are not loaded,” he told reporters.
LTG Cargo, the railway company’s freight subsidiary, transported about 51.1 million tons of freight last year, of which about a fifth was transit to Kaliningrad.
Moscow blames Lithuania for the restrictions on the transport of steel and ferrous metals to Kaliningrad that came into force last week. Vilnius says it is simply adhering to EU-wide sanctions. (LRT/Business World Magazine)