After tightening the inspection, the import of Russian grains to Lithuania did not remain, but their transit increased

“After March 18, we are observing a 95% decrease in imports from Russia and Belarus to Lithuania, but we are observing (higher – BNS) entry into Lithuania for import to other EU countries,” said director of the service Audronė Mikalauskienė.

Starting from March 18, VMVT checks every wagon or vehicle of grain imported from high-risk countries – Russia and its occupied regions and Belarus – specialists clarify the origin of the imported grain, and also, as before, check whether grain cargoes intended for the EU market are not in the Community prohibited impurities.

According to A. Mikalauskienė, from January 1 to March 18, 184 shipments of grain were transported via Lithuania to the Community markets – Germany, Denmark, France, Belgium, the Czech Republic and other countries, while from March 18 to April 16 – 317 shipments were already made.

“It means that the number of shipments that are transported to other EU countries from Russia and Belarus through Lithuania has almost doubled,” said A. Mikalauskienė.

According to the service, until March 18, an average of 20-25 consignments of Russian or Belarusian fodder were transported to Lithuania for import per day.

At that time, during the first month of stricter inspection, 38 vehicles were inspected, transporting 1,068 tons of fodder from Russia and Belarus for import to Lithuania. Three shipments were missed and the rest are still being checked in the laboratory. Last week, there were no fodder shipments destined for the Lithuanian market.

In addition, since March 18, no Russian or Belarusian cereal grains and their products intended for final consumption have been transported to Lithuania for import. Another six vehicles with fodder from Russia and 15 from Belarus were stopped at the border due to improper documents.

“Bega” says it no longer imports grain, “Dognus” does not comment

VMVT also indicated that 28 out of 38 cargoes were imported in the last month by the company “Pašarų eksportas ir importas”, the rest by the organic fertilizer and grain trading company “Ekofarm”, the pellet trader “Rokjus”, the supplier of raw materials to food manufacturers “Lavisos koncernas” and the agricultural raw material supply company “Imlitex agro”.

According to BNS, before the tightening, mostly Russian and Belarusian fodder was imported and loaded onto ships by the Klaipėda sea cargo company “Bega” and the port company “Dognus”.

Laimonas Rimkus, the manager of “Bega”, said that “Bega” does not currently import grain, therefore, it does not pay for any veterinary cargo inspections.

“Increased veterinary grain inspections (BNS) have absolutely no effect on our activities, because we do not import, we are not traders,” said L. Rimkus.

“I don’t see any changes. I know that these quantities have increased very intensively – sometimes – in the ports of Latvia”, said the head of Begos when asked whether the company started loading more Russian grain for EU markets after March 18.

At that time, Dognus manager Arūnas Vasiliauskas refused to comment on the company’s activities.

According to VMVT, from March 18 to April 16, 292 shipments with 18,000 tons of grain were brought in transit through Lithuania from Russia and Belarus to EU countries, and “Bega” paid for the veterinary control of 97% of the shipments.

A. Mikalauskienė emphasized that last week alone, 25 shipments of grain intended for the German market were transported through the port of Klaipėda.

According to the data provided by the state data agency BNS, only about 12,200 tons of corn worth 1.95 million were imported from Russia to Lithuania in January-February. Eur.

According to the agency’s calculations, 30,120 tons of Russian corn were imported from Russia last year for 7.77 million. EUR and 6,190 tons of buckwheat, millet or other cereals for 2.76 million. Eur, as well as 1,530 tons of Belarusian wheat and meslino (wheat and rye mixture) for EUR 355,400.

Hoping to stop Russian agricultural products entering the EU market, the European Commission (EC) proposed in March to introduce maximum import tariffs for grains, oilseeds and their products, including wheat, corn and sunflower meal.

At that time, Lithuania, together with Latvia, Estonia, Poland and the Czech Republic, urged the EC to completely ban the import of Russian and Belarusian grain into the EU.

According to the EC, 4.8 million were imported into the EU from Russia and Belarus last year. tons of grain worth 1.5 billion Eur.

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