A vital maritime trade hub for landlocked Belarus, the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda faces economic fallout from the Baltic state’s hard line against Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
The embattled Belarusian leader has threatened to reroute import and export cargo through Russian ports after Lithuania and its neighbors Estonia and Latvia last month imposed sanctions against him.
Their move came as Lukashenko staged brutal crackdowns against protesters who demanded that he step down following a disputed Aug. 9 presidential election.
Photo: AFP
Klaipeda is the largest port in the Baltic states and handles more than 45 million tonnes of goods a year — more than one-quarter of it from and to Belarus via Lithuanian rail.
“Belarusian cargo is very important for the port of Klaipeda,” port director-general Algis Latakas told reporters, standing near carriages and a ship loaded with Belarusian fertilizer.
Andrius Romanovskis, president of Lithuania’s business confederation, said that companies operating in Klaipeda were “very sensitive and are closely following” the latest news from Belarus.
“For some companies, it would mean quite a strong negative economic effect,” he said.
Lukashenko, facing the biggest challenge to his 26-year rule, threatened to cut off the route through neighboring Lithuania after Vilnius imposed sanctions for election fraud.
His tough talk has been backed up by Russia, his main ally that wants to divert oil shipments from Lithuanian to Russian ports.
Apart from oil products, Belarus also uses Klaipeda to export fertilizer from Belaruskali, the world’s largest producer of potash.
Latakas said that a boycott would be purely political and would make no sense economically.
“We think that in the near term, politically it may be possible, but it would prove rather complicated practically, because it needs technologies and a concerted logistics chain,” he added.
“Klaipeda is the closest location to Belarusian fertilizer factories, and since 2006 Belarusian cargo has mostly sailed to the rest of the world through Klaipeda,” Latakas said.
The port and Lithuania’s railways have not seen any changes so far except that Lithuanian truckers have reported more thorough checks at the border in the past few days, he said.
Before the presidential election, Belarus had been using oil imports through Klaipeda — including spot purchases from the US and Saudi Arabia — to reduce its reliance on Russia.
Since the vote and mass protests that ensued, the Belarusian government has changed tack as Lukashenko became heavily reliant on his single most important backer.
Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Novak earlier this month visited Minsk to raise the issue, sparking speculation about an imminent deal.
“We need to create the economic conditions that will be beneficial to both sides,” he said, voicing hope that a deal could be reached with Belarus by the end of the month.
Russian officials have said that any Belarusian cargo could transit instead through the Russian Baltic Sea ports of Ust-Luga and Kaliningrad.
Even though this might be more expensive, some experts believe Moscow could be willing to compensate Belarus to get the cargo, and punish EU and NATO member Lithuania.
Lithuania has particularly angered Minsk in the past few weeks, as it has been hosting opposition presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who fled soon after claiming victory against Lukashenko and has inspired mass protests.
However, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda brushed aside the prospect of any effects if Belarus switches its trade to Russia, saying that Belarus would not harm itself economically.
On the Chinese microblogging platform Sina Weibo, enthusiastic slackers share their tips: Fill up a thermos with whiskey, do planks or stretches in the work pantry at regular intervals, drink liters of water to prompt lots of trips to the toilet on work time, and, once there, spend time on social media or playing games on your phone. “Not working hard is everyone’s basic right,” one commenter wrote. “With or without legal protection, everyone has the right to not work hard.” Young Chinese people are pushing back against an engrained culture of overwork, and embracing a philosophy of laziness known as “touching
‘STUNNED’: With help from an official at the US Department of Justice, Donald Trump reportedly planned to oust the acting attorney general in a bid to overturn the election Former US president Donald Trump was at his Florida resort on Saturday, beginning post-presidency life while US President Joe Biden settled into the White House, but in Washington and beyond, the chaos of the 45th president’s final days in office continued to throw out damaging aftershocks. In yet another earth-shaking report, the New York Times said that Trump plotted with an official at the US Department of Justice to fire the acting attorney general, then force Georgia Republicans to overturn his defeat in that state. Meanwhile, former acting US secretary of defense Christopher Miller made an extraordinary admission, telling Vanity Fair that
The Palauan president-elect has vowed to stand up to Chinese “bullying” in the Pacific, saying that the archipelago nation is set to stand by its alliances with “true friends,” Taiwan and the US. Surangel Whipps Jr, 52, a supermarket owner and two-time senator from a prominent Palauan family, is to be sworn in as the new president tomorrow, succeeding his brother-in-law, Tommy Remengesau Jr. In a forthright interview, Whipps said that the US had demonstrated over the years that it was a reliable friend of Palau, most recently shown by its delivery of 6,000 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. “It’s important for
DELIVERING HOPE: The Japanese PM pledged to push ahead with plans to stage the Games, despite polls showing about 80% think they will not or should not happen Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga yesterday vowed to get the COVID-19 pandemic under control and hold the already postponed Olympic Games this summer with ample protection. In a speech opening a new session of parliament, Suga said that his government would revise laws to make disease prevention measures enforceable with penalties and compensation. Early in the pandemic, Japan was able to keep its caseload manageable with nonbinding requests for businesses to close or operate with social distancing, and for people to stay at home, but recent weeks have seen several highs in new cases per day, in part blamed on eased attitudes