BREAKING: Lithuania has resumed rail transit of goods to Kaliningrad. How does that align with the EU sanctions against Russia?

photo: Archive/BREAKING: Lithuania has resumed rail transit of goods to Kaliningrad. How does that align with the EU sanctions against Russia?

27 / 07 / 2022

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LTG Cargo, the transport company of Lietuvos Geležinkeliai, resumed the transit of sanctioned goods between Russia and Kaliningrad from July 22, as stipulated by the guidelines published by the European Commission. The Lithuanian publication lrt.lt reported this with reference to the transport company's message.

"According to the regulation of the Council of the EU, the EU guidelines and the interpretations of the competent authorities to the conditions of strengthening the transit control of goods provided by the EU guidelines, LTG Cargo will resume such transportation as of today, i.e. July 22," states Lietuvos Geležinkeliai.

Thus, the transit of goods prohibited by the sanctions will only be permitted if it is necessary, is not considered an unusual flow or structure of trade, and does not circumvent the restrictions.

According to the notification, the volume of freight transportation has to correspond to the average transportation of goods by railway for the past three years - from January 2019 to the end of December 2021. Average values will be calculated for each product code separately, and applications will be rejected if their volume reaches the annual average values.

According to the railway, transportation of the luxury items specified in the decree will not be resumed by transit until further clarification.

It will be recalled that since June 18, "Lithuanian Railways" informed, "Kaliningrad Railway" that they would stop passing transit trains with goods that have come under the sanctions of the European Union.

On July 13, the European Commission published instructions by which it lifted the ban on the transit of sanctioned goods by rail to and from the Kaliningrad region (Russia) through the territory of the EU. The Government Commission for Coordination of International Sanctions, which met on Tuesday, recommended to the Ministry of Transport, the Department of Customs and "Lithuanian Railways" how the transit of these cargoes should be controlled.