As part of the implementation of EU sanctions, 34 freight vehicles were refused entry from Russia to Lithuania on July 11. Long queues of trucks are also forming at Lithuania’s border with Russia, as the restrictions gradually cover more and more goods bound for Kaliningrad.
Freight vehicles are also queuing at the border with Belarus, as checks have become more thorough than before. At the Raigardas border checkpoint, queues stretch on both the Lithuanian and Belarusian sides.
“After the introduction of that additional package of sanctions, the queues disappeared for a couple of weeks. Now, the flows are only increasing, the queue is getting bigger. We have a 12-kilometer-long queue,” said Andrius Beloruckinas, the commander of the Druskininkai border checkpoint.
Drivers of freight vehicles coming from Belarus say that the queues are getting longer because of the increase in flows and the thorough checks.
“In Belarus, I’ve waited for 10 days. There are more controls because of sanctions. They check a lot,” one driver said.
“I’m taking peat to the Czech Republic. It is better to go through Lithuania than Poland because here you are allowed to enter with full fuel tanks,” said another.
Meanwhile, at the Kybartai checkpoint on the border with Kaliningrad, only trucks with Russian licence plates are waiting to transit Lithuania to mainland Russia. Almost 500 trucks cross this checkpoint every day.
Russian haulers say that more than 400 trucks are waiting to enter Lithuania on the Kaliningrad side of the border. It now takes twice as long as before to deliver goods.
“On our side, we were X-rayed. Now, it takes a week to go one way,” said a Russian driver.
“I’m transporting furniture. On the Russian side, I waited for four days. They check a lot,” added another.
In mid-June, Lithuania imposed restrictions on the transit of steel and ferrous metal products, sanctioned by the EU, between Russia and its Kaliningrad exclave. On July 10, the sanctions expanded to include cement, alcohol and other products. On July 11, 34 freight vehicles were refused entry to Lithuania from Russia.
“There is now a stronger screening process for customs checks, taking into account the package of sanctioned goods. The focus is on transit goods,” said Vadimas Dikcius, head of the Kybartai checkpoint.
The trucks that were turned around were carrying car parts, wood and wood products, furniture, glass and alcohol.
The transit restrictions are part of the fourth EU sanctions package on Russia, passed in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. The sanctions will expand to cover coal and other solid fuels on August 10 and Russian oil on December 5. (LRT/Business World Magazine)
