Premier sees Belarus fully prepared by Dec 2021 to export fertilizers via alternative shipping routes

<p> MINSK, Aug 13 - PrimePress. Belarus will be fully prepared by December to ship its fertilizers through alternative transit routes. Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko made a statement to this effect on 13 August commenting on Lithuania’s decision to suspend the transit of Belarusian fertilizers, the government’s press-service reports. </p> <p>   </p> <p> As previously reported with reference to Lithuanian Minister of Transport and Communications Marius Skuodis, the export flow of Belarusian potash fertilizers produced by companies hit by US sanctions will be stopped in December 2021. In his words, banks will stop accepting for payment invoices for services in respect of sanctioned entities. Consequently, in order to avoid risks, companies will not want to deal with them. </p> <p>   </p> <p> As previously reported, the European Union (EU), the United States, Great Britain, Canada introduced sectoral sanctions against Belarus, including export restrictions on potash fertilizer supplies. </p> <p>   </p> <p> “First of all, no one notified us about this. I learned about it from the media. I don’t know if this is a private opinion or an official stance. In any case, we expected it. We have been preparing for it and we have been working on alternative routes to ship Belarusian fertilizers,” said Golovchenko. </p> <p>   </p> <p> “Now we are negotiating this matter with Russian partners. We are studying cost efficiency, logistics subtleties associated with vessels of a certain type, warehouses, storage facilities,” he said. According to him, the options under consideration include ports in Murmansk and Leningrad Oblast. </p> <p>   </p> <p> “There is support from the Russian Federation. I am sure that we will agree on special tariffs for railway transportation, which will counterbalance the increase in the transportation distance. The work on it is in full swing, therefore by December, when the transit is to be discontinued, we will be fully prepared for the transshipment of fertilizers through alternative ports,” he said. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Belarus has estimated that if Vilnius makes such a decision on its own, Lithuania is going to lose about €100 million in revenue, said Golovchenko. </p> <p>   </p> <p> As previously reported, prime ministers of Belarus and Russia Golovchenko and Mikhail Mishustin on April 16, 2021 discussed the possibility of transshipment of potash fertilizers through Russian seaports on the Baltic Sea in the framework of the relevant intergovernmental agreement of February 19, 2021 on the transshipment of Belarusian oil products in 2021-2023. According to Golovchenko, the Belarusian side is ready to invest in the construction of a port terminal. </p> <p>   </p> <p> As previously reported, RZD Deputy CEO Alexei Shilo told reporters on 9 Apr 2021 that Russian Railways (RZD) was ready to carry the necessary volumes of fertilizers and timber from Belarus through Russian ports for export, offering alternatives via North-West, South, and the Far East. Shilo clarified with regard to Belaruskali products that RZD could facilitate the delivery of around 12 million tonnes of potash fertilizers per year. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said on Aug 9 that Belarus is ready to redirect the transit of potash fertilizers to the port of Murmansk (Russia) if the European Union (EU) closes its ports to such transit. End </p>

2021-08-14

Primepress