Lithuania confirms need for EU subsidies to transport Ukrainian grain via Klaipeda
VILNIUS. Aug 30 (Interfax) - The transportation of Ukrainian grain through the Klaipeda seaport requires help from the European Union, Lithuanian Minister of Communications and Transport Marius Skuodis said.
"Ukrainian grain has not been transported through Lithuania of late because the transport cost is too high, and besides, there is no infrastructure," the minister said in an interview on Lithuania's LRT TV channel on Wednesday.
In addition, there are all sorts of barriers on the Polish-Ukrainian border, "due to which trains have to wait a long time, and the transport business suffers losses," he said.
"If the economic issue regarding the cost of transportation is resolved, then there are political decisions already made on procedures to reduce transportation times. And if all had already been in place, then we would be facing infrastructure challenges, but we are not even up to that point yet," Skuodis said.
"European Union assistance has been allocated for transportation through Moldova. If we declare this to be of common interest, then we can expect that assistance to Ukrainian farmers who want to transport [grain] should also come from the European Union," the minister said.
Meanwhile, the volume of financial assistance will be small "compared to the support that Lithuania provides to Ukraine," he added.
Earlier, the port of Klaipeda said it could receive over 10 million tonnes of Ukrainian grain, but the biggest problem remains how to deliver it to the port.
As reported, Ukrainian farmers are asking for help from Lithuania in obtaining EU subsidies for the transportation of exported grain through Klaipeda and other European ports. They believe this is the only way Ukraine will be able to export the accumulated crop without losses.
"The most important thing for us is to get to the sea, because it has the largest throughput (. . .) Working with the Baltic countries will be enough. Only if the "green" corridor works, then transport subsidies will work and the whole system will work. Because today, after calculating the losses from existing logistics, it does not work. It exists, but it is very expensive," Andrei Dikun, chairman of the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Council, said.
Ukraine has been exporting most of its grain and other agricultural products through its ports on the Black Sea for many years. However, after the start of the military operation on the territory of the country, the operations at the ports have become severely limited.