Lithuanian Railways suspends Lukoil transit cargoes to Kaliningrad

VILNIUS - Lithuanian Railways (LTG), Lithuania's state-owned railway company, suspended transit cargoes from Russia to Kaliningrad by Lukoil and its affiliated companies on Friday after the United Stated and the United Kingdom sanctioned the Russian oil giant.

"Compliance with the recommended US and UK sanctions is a consistent step that contributes to business risk control and resilience, and also reflects the value position of the entire group," LTG CEO Egidijus Lazauskas said in a statement.

Announced in late October, the sanctions also apply to Rosneft and its affiliated companies, but their products have not been transported by rail to Kaliningrad in recent years. The customers of LTG Cargo, the freight arms of the LTG group, were informed about the transition period to complete transactions on October 31. Since then, no new applications for the transit of Lukoil or related companies' cargoes to the Kaliningrad region have been approved.

LTG points out that none of the group's companies have direct contracts with these US and UK-sanctioned companies.

In late October, Lithuania's public broadcaster LRT reported on LTG's plans to stop transporting Russian oil companies' transit cargoes to Kaliningrad and that a transition period was planned for the completion of transactions.

Washington announced sanctions against Russian oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil in October after President Donald Trump accused Vladimir Putin of unwillingness to seek peace in Ukraine. They take effect on November 21.