EU not to compensate for transit of Ukrainian agricultural products to Lithuania - European commissioner
MOSCOW. Oct 5 (Interfax) - The European Union's support for the transit of Ukrainian grain via Lithuania is not envisaged, European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevicius was quoted by Ukrainian media as saying in his interview with Zyniai Radio.
"No such support is planned today. This is not about some mystical support. In this case, it is the construction of new rolling stock, where there is one of the biggest problems. Another question is whether there will be enough railcars for grain transportation. There are a lot of logistical problems," he said.
The transportation of grain from Ukraine via Lithuania remains complicated, as it is a financially unattractive transit route, he said.
Most of Ukraine's exports are going to southern destinations, primarily through Romanian ports, Sinkevicius said.
"The situation has not fundamentally changed. There is also an economic component, because this grain belongs to someone and someone gets profit from it. So far transportation via Lithuania is difficult, especially when 150 million euros have been invested in the development of the port of Constanta," he said.
Grain is a specific commodity, its transportation requires special freight cars and special ships, he said.
"Now this logistics is provided in the southern direction. To what extent it will be possible to do this through Poland and Lithuania, it is difficult to say, because it will be the choice of Ukrainians," Sinkevicius added.
The Lithuanian media reported that Lithuanian Minister of Transport Marius Skuodis earlier said that Ukrainian grain was not shipped via Lithuania because its price was too high and subsidies were needed to ensure transit. The Seimas Economic and Rural Affairs Commission later called on the European Commission to consider EU subsidies that would cover the high costs of shipping Ukrainian goods to the Lithuanian port.
As reported, Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania agreed to shift veterinary, sanitary and phytosanitary oversight of Ukrainian grain shipped in transit from the Polish-Ukrainian border to the Klaipeda seaport. The trilateral agreement is expected to expedite the transit of Ukrainian agricultural products via Poland after that country as well as Hungary and Slovakia decided to continue blocking the import of Ukrainian agricultural products.