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Photo 6Due to the ambitions of Lithuanian politicians, Belarus is blocking the export of petroleum products through the port of Klaipeda. Temporarily? Editorial file photo
The events were predicted
The Klaipeda state seaport employs about 58,000 people. people, and Belarusian cargo accounts for about a third of the sea port’s total cargo volume. 2019 14.1 million tonnes were handled in the port of Klaipeda. tons of cargo related to Belarus: fertilizers, petroleum products, metal products.
Representatives from the port, who spoke in October, made no secret that they needed Belarusian cargo. “Cargo in this country is important not only for port companies, but also for all other sectors; moreover, the revenue from Belarusian freight transport comes from carriers, freight forwarders, ship agents, charterers, repairers, supply providers for ships, trucking, construction equipment suppliers and terminals. ” , then they said.
While politicians in our country continued to try to teach their neighbors to live, political scientist Vadim Volovojus, interviewed in October, warned that “the situation with the Lithuanian carriers perfectly demonstrates that Belarus can not only speak, but also act.”
Freight diversion, he said, is not a quick process, but events in October and relations between the countries have already signaled that the possibility of freight diversion is becoming more and more real.
December 15 It became known that Belarusians switched from languages to work: the subsidiary of the largest Belarusian exporter of petroleum products, Belaruskaja neftenaja kampanija, BNK, temporarily suspended the export of petroleum products through the Klaipėda Nafta terminal. Given that the temporary nature of relations with neighboring countries usually lasts several years, Vakaro žinios wondered what the consequences of such actions by Belarus could be.
It’s loading, but the prospects are blurry
According to Orinta Barkauskaitė, representative of Klaipėdos Nafta (KN), the decision of the Belarusians not to direct cargo through Klaip seda applies to new trade agreements concluded by them.
“Petroleum products that were previously sold will continue to be loaded in Klaipeda. Therefore, the cargo, albeit to a lesser extent, is currently shipped to Klaipeda and recharged at the CN oil terminal for further export. We have the planned cargo. For the near future, – O. Barkauskaitė assured – Given the uncertainty of the situation and the information available, it is currently difficult to assess in concrete terms the possible impact of such a decision on GNI on the activities of the CN. However, until the CN customer resumes normal trade volumes when loading petroleum products through Klaipeda, the probability that the Belarusian cargo will not be shipped to Lithuania is considered quite real.
We are currently trying to quickly identify specific customer service needs for 2021 and adequately prepare for any business scenario. “
According to Mindaugas Navikas, director of KN Commerce, considering the situation in Belarus this year, the company is already looking for new business opportunities. These include oil storage services, the demand for which has grown significantly this year due to the coronavirus pandemic situation and historically low refining margins, or the increase in ship-to-ship handling operations through the flexibility of managed infrastructure.
The problems happened unexpectedly …
The Foreign Ministry, headed by Gabriel Landsberg, who proposed to Sviatlan Cichanouskaya to establish a “Belarusian representation” in Vilnius at the end of August, said that “in some business decisions, the political logic of Belarus prevails over the economic one.”
“It is obvious that Lithuania offers the best conditions for the transit of cargo from Belarus through our country. Unfortunately, we can see from the information available to us that economic arguments are being relegated to the background in this situation. The Ministry helps. constantly and will continue to cooperate with the port of Klaipeda and existing companies, seeking other cargo transit alternatives “, responds the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is obvious that the Ministry and, of course, the new Minister do not see their fault.
The Ministry of Economy and Innovation, headed by Aušrinė Armonaitė, did not know how to proceed: “We are currently evaluating the situation because it is new information that has reached us. It all depends on what the agreements between the companies are and whether all the contractual obligations have been fulfilled ”.
The Belarusian company, which was also asked to comment on the situation, ignored the request.
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