Amendments to the Lithuanian state railway company’s contract with Belarus’ potash giant Belaruskali should have been submitted to the governmental National Security Commission for evaluation, Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte has said.
Simonyte has told the public broadcaster LRT that Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai (Lithuanian Railways, LTG) amended its contract with Belaruskali in October to include an obligation to pay for fertilizer shipments in advance, which is “understandable”. “However, it seems there were more changes to the contract. This brings up the question of why the contract did not end up on the desk of the National Security Commission, where it should have, according to preliminary estimates,” she said. “Apparently, the picture of responsibility is more multifaceted and subtler. The contract is now being assessed and it will be assessed by the commission, too, and there will be some consequences.”
According to the prime minister, LTG’s contract with Belaruskali can be terminated in several ways, and it does not necessarily mean that the transit of fertilizers had to stop on December 8, when the US sanctions came into force, because the Americans themselves have set even longer deadlines for “their own entities” to wind down their contracts. “The pointing of fingers at each other is natural in these circumstances,” she said. “But I hope that we will have the wisdom to agree on a diagnosis of the situation and on solutions.” Belaruskali product shipments via Lithuania continue despite the US sanctions because Belarus’ potash giant had made advance payments to LTG back in November. The Lithuanian government says that the US sanctions do not directly apply to the transit of fertilizers through Lithuania. However, it announced last week, after the sanctions had already taken effect, that it was seeking to terminate the state railway company’s contract with Belaruskali. Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis and Transport Minister Marius Skuodis have handed in their resignation letters over the Belaruskali scandal. Simonyte has said she will announce her decision on whether to accept their resignations on Tuesday evening.
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