The cargo transit of Belaruskali, one of the world's largest producers and exporters of potash fertilisers, from the Belarusian border to the Lithuanian port of Klaipėda is set to end at midnight on Monday.
It will mark the end of the transportation of fertilisers, stopped by US sanctions, that has been growing for more than a decade to reach around 11 million euros a year.
Read more: Belaruskali sues Lithuanian government over transport contract termination
The Belarusian transit has provided tens of millions of euros in revenue to Lithuanian Railways (LTG), the country's state-owned railway company, Birių Krovinių Terminalas (Bulk Cargo Terminal), co-owned by Belaruskali, as well as the state-owned port of Klaipėda.
The last train carrying potash fertilisers under the 2018 contract signed by LTG and Belaruskali is scheduled to enter Lithuania at around 19:00 and to reach Klaipėda by midnight, Mantas Dubauskas, spokesman for LTG, told BNS.
Usually, around 6-7 trains with 60 railcars each cross Lithuania daily, carrying around 5,000 tons of fertilisers.
After LTG announced in the middle of January its plans to terminate its contract with Belaruskali, at least five different carriers approached LTG, willing to carry potash fertilisers as of February 1, but none of the applications got approved.
“Not a single application for February has been approved,” Dubauskas told BNS on Sunday night.
Transport Minister Marius Skuodis also says he has no information of any Belarusian freight going after February 1.
“I have no information on further movement,” the minister told BNS on Sunday night.
Several sources told BNS, however, that the situation might change, if, for example, a court would temporarily suspend the government's decision.
Last Friday, Belaruskali lodged an appeal with a Vilnius court against the Lithuanian government's decision to order LTG to terminate the contract.
The Belarusian company is asking the court to temporarily suspend the government's resolution.
The court ruling is due early next week.
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