Wood cargo en route from Kaliningrad denied entry into Lithuania on Monday

  • 2022-07-11
  • BNS/TBT Staff

VILNIUS – With new European Union’s (EU) restrictions on the transit of certain products of Russian origin via EU territory to Kaliningrad now in effect, a wood cargo transported by a truck from Kaliningrad was denied entry into Lithuania on Monday morning, spokeswoman for the Lithuanian Customs Department told BNS.

“A truck, which attempted to cross into Lithuania from [the region of] Kaliningrad via the Kybartai checkpoint, was turned back after a check. It carried a load of timber. Customs checkpoints operate as usual, it’s just that the list of goods subject to inspection has gotten longer,” Lina Laurinaityte-Grigiene told BNS on Monday.

The Lithuanian customs earlier reported about certain exemptions foreseen for certain fertilizers of Russian origin or imported from Russia, which would allow transporting 837,500 tons of potassium chloride and 1.58 million tons of mineral and chemical fertilizers per year, starting from July 10, should the envisaged quotas be granted.

According to Laurinaityte-Grigiene, fertilizer transit exemptions were permitted as long as the maximum volumes laid down in the regulation were not exceeded.

“An importer transporting fertilizers submits its cargo manifest to the customs and either gets a permit for movement or not, depending on whether the quota set forth for a specific group of fertilizers has not been exceeded,” she explained.

A ban on the transit of Russian-origin cement, alcohol, wood, glass and a number of other goods via Lithuania came into force on Sunday after the expiry of the transitional period provided for in the fifth package of the European Union’s (EU) restrictive measures against Russia.