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The Kaliningrad region cannot achieve tariff understanding from Lithuania
Cargo carriers in the Kaliningrad region froze in anxious anticipation. One of these days, the long-discussed issue of reducing Lithuanian transit rates for cargo traveling in the Kaliningrad direction should be resolved.In the Kaliningrad region, both officials and cargo carriers have been literally groaning for a long time: Lithuania has established such draconian tariffs for transit to the westernmost Russian region (which, remember, does not have common borders with the rest of the country) that cargo carriers are forced to bypass the region. It is much more profitable to send cargo to Klaipeda, Lithuania (an extra hundred kilometers of travel, but thousands of dollars saved), and from there further around the world. For comparison: Lithuanian railway workers set a tariff of $0.016 per tonne-kilometer for Klaipeda, $0.017 for Ventspils in Latvia, and $0.031 for Kaliningrad! That is almost twice as much. It is because of this difference that Kaliningrad still does not receive the million tons of potash fertilizers promised last year by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. Although the Belarusian brothers want to, they cannot fulfill the Old Man’s instructions - it is too expensive.
Two weeks ago, Belarusian Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky even flew to Kaliningrad specially. A meeting was organized in the region with the participation of the ministers of transport of Belarus and Russia, as well as Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov and presidential envoy to the north-west Ilya Klebanov. The head of the Lithuanian transport department was also invited. Everyone together wanted to bring tariff policy to a common denominator. However, at the very last moment, a government crisis occurred in Lithuania - the cabinet of ministers resigned. The country appointed a new Minister of Transport, Algirdas Butkevicius, for whom tariff policy issues were too much for him. An employee of the Lithuanian Ministry of lower status arrived in Kaliningrad. As a result, the negotiations did not work out. The Lithuanian delegation, citing ignorance of the tariff issue, asked for a two-week timeout.
Governor Georgy Boos, who had high hopes for this general meeting, reacted very sharply to this turn of events. “The conditions that Lithuania has established in the Kaliningrad direction are discriminatory. There cannot be any other term in nature. They asked for two weeks. Well, we waited six years. Let’s wait a little longer,” said Mr. Boos. He was also supported by Belarusian Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky: “There are no conditions to increase the tariff in the Kaliningrad direction. In fact, this territory of Russia is being placed in unequal conditions, which is unacceptable.”
Two weeks passed very quickly. But Vilnius never formulated its position. Perhaps today or tomorrow a trilateral meeting on the tariff issue will be held again in the Lithuanian capital. As Deputy Prime Minister of the Kaliningrad government Yuri Shalimov told Vremya Novostey, regional authorities are ready for any response. “The main thing is that we finally get at least something answered. And depending on “yes” or “no,” we will act further,” he explained.
Naturally, it would be ideal for the Kaliningrad authorities if Vilnius halved the tariff. Local businesses are looking forward to this as well. Thus, the director of the Kaliningrad sea fishing port, Andrei Krainy, told Vremya Novostey that he is ready to equalize port tariffs with Klaipeda. “We have an agreement with the Belarusians to equalize rates between Kaliningrad and Klaipeda for transshipment of potash fertilizers,” he said. He is convinced that if tariffs for cargo transportation can be reduced and cargo from Belarus enters the region, the port will be able to cope with the increased cargo flow.
However, there is no guarantee that Lithuania, after thinking for two weeks, will still give the answer Kaliningraders need. It is unlikely that Vilnius is eager to weaken the competitive advantages of its own Klaipeda and Latvian Ventspils.