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According to the Russian Kommersant, it is theoretically possible to choose another route for cargo transportation to Russia, but the Lithuanian transit is the most beneficial: logistics operators use consolidation warehouses in Lithuania.
Logistics center
Felt transit business
After the unknown Aliaksandr Lukashenko announced the closure of the borders with Lithuania and Poland, the carriers felt the tightening of controls. This was also felt by the Russian carriers transporting cargo through Lithuania and Belarus to Russia.
According to Igor Rebelsky, Kommersant’s Russian business ombudsman for transport and logistics, the decision of the Belarusian authorities cuts through not only Lithuanian but also Russian business: in 2019, Belarusian customs selected an average of one hundred trucks for a thorough inspection, and these days practically all freighters cross the Lithuanian-Belarusian border is strictly controlled. As a result, the time of freight transportation to Russia has been significantly extended.
Russian freight operators have evaluated all options bypassing Lithuania, Kommersant reports. The first is from Latvia directly to Russia, but with an arc of 200 kilometers, making it more expensive to travel, and at that border, the trucks stop for two to five days.
Another option is the Belarusian-Polish border with a 350-kilometer arc, but this is a very uneconomic road, with distribution warehouses operated by Russian operators remaining in Lithuania. The Russian newspaper announces that there is a majority of these operators.
Lithuania is a port of European goods to Russia
Furthermore, the situation will worsen when Russia bans the import of unlabeled products such as textiles, footwear, photographic equipment and perfumes before the end of the year. So those goods that are transported from Western Europe to Russia. “Today, that European footwear is marked in Lithuanian warehouses. Lithuania is basically a port for European goods entering Russia, ”said the Ombudsman.
FM Logistics, Russia’s global supply chain division, also felt the need for more stringent inspections of cargo in transit. Its director, Alexei Misailov, said that the terminals in Brest and Kamenyj Lohe (Medininkai) are crowded today and trucks are still being sent for inspection in Minsk. By the way, Lithuanian airlines have also talked about this.
Natalija Šemiakina, director of operations for car transport company AsstrA, also hinted that cargo inspections at the Lithuanian border may take longer.
“It just came to us then. If the situation on the Lithuanian border does not change, some carriers may refuse the transit through Belarus,” he said. Therefore, alternative routes will be sought, through Latvia or Poland.
By the way, one of the sources of income of the Belarusian budget is the traffic tax. For example, the transit of all used cars to Russia in Belarus accounts for two-thirds.
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