EUR 155 million to be allocated to Lithuanian Railways – minister

VILNIUS - Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai (Lithuanian Railways, LTG), the country's state-owned railway company, will be allocated 155 million euros in additional funding as the company is losing revenue due to the existing international sanctions, Finance Minister Gintare Skaiste says.

"Revenue has dropped significantly due to the inability to transport certain cargo from Russia and Belarus, so the company needs support to maintain its infrastructure, first of all, 72 million euros to co-finance the electrification project," the minister told press conference on the adjustments to the 2022 state budget.

In her words, the railway company had planned to partly finance the 398 million euro (electrification – BNS) project itself, but due to the loss of revenue, it doesn't have the capacity to do so now. LTG had planned to fund part of the 201 million euro electrification project, with the rest coming from the EU's Cohesion Fund.

In addition to the 72 million euros for the electrification project, it is proposed to further allocate 83 million euros to support other rail infrastructure and to compensate for the loss of revenue.

83 million euros is the maximum amount LTG will be able to borrow for its own needs, the finance minister said.

It was earlier estimated that due the EU and US sanctions on fertilizers produced by Belarusian company Belaruskali, LTG will lose around 11 million tons in annual freight volumes, leading to a loss of revenue of 61 million euros.