If cargo traffic towards the east were completely halted, total cargo turnover at the Port of Liepāja would fall by around 40%, representatives of the Liepāja Special Economic Zone (SEZ) said.
Commenting on the proposal to ban the transit of agricultural and animal feed products of Russian and Belarusian origin through Latvia, the Liepāja SEZ said that restrictions on transit cargo would result in the Port of Liepāja losing all cargo flows to and from Central Asia.
The Liepāja SEZ stressed that considerable efforts have been made over several years to develop a transit cargo corridor to Central Asian countries.
For example, Brazilian sugar and Argentine soybeans are transported by ship to the Port of Liepāja and then carried by rail to Central Asian countries. At present, port companies also have contracts for handling cargo to and from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
If grain transit to third countries were restricted, this would automatically lead to a sharp increase in global grain prices
and, consequently, food prices, contributing to higher inflation in Europe and worldwide, the Liepāja SEZ stressed.
According to Liepāja SEZ calculations, if cargo traffic towards the east were completely halted, total cargo turnover at the Port of Liepāja would decline by around 40%. Such a drop would reduce the Liepāja SEZ Authority’s revenue from port dues and related payments, creating a shortfall of approximately four to six million euros compared with planned budget revenue.
This would significantly affect the operations of the Liepāja SEZ Authority and could result in the loss of around 1,000 jobs at Port of Liepāja terminals and among Liepāja SEZ companies.
SEZ representatives also explained that stevedoring companies at the Port of Liepāja work with some of the world’s largest buyers of grain and agricultural commodities, including US-based Archer Daniels Midland and Singapore-based Olam Agri. From the perspective of Liepāja SEZ development, cooperation is therefore being built with companies that are active in markets where a large share of Latvian grain is sold, including Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
Liepāja SEZ representatives added that major agricultural companies purchase products, including grain, from Australia, Kazakhstan, Argentina, the United States, Russia, Lithuania and Latvia. Therefore, if the operations of international companies at Latvian ports were restricted, this would mean that these companies would no longer purchase grain grown by Latvian farmers and would instead work with other Baltic Sea ports, including those in Lithuania, Poland and Estonia.
A total of 6.87 million tonnes of cargo was handled at the Port of Liepāja in 2025,
down 2.5% from 2024. By cargo volume, Liepāja was Latvia’s third-largest port last year.
As reported, coalition parties will discuss at a cooperation meeting in the Saeima on Monday a proposal to ban the transit of agricultural and animal feed products of Russian and Belarusian origin through Latvia.
The National Alliance (NA) has proposed banning the transit of agricultural and animal feed products of Russian and Belarusian origin through Latvia, as well as the storage of such cargo at Latvian ports, customs warehouses and free zones.
The proposal has been supported by the Union of Greens and Farmers and New Unity, as well as the opposition Progressives party.
At the same time, amendments to Cabinet regulations prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture are being submitted to the government for consideration. The amendments would allow the Food and Veterinary Service (PVD) to take samples from grain shipments in transit and conduct laboratory tests to verify the declared country of origin.
The government plans to decide this week on granting the PVD the authority to inspect grain cargo in transit at Latvian ports.
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