On the night to Saturday Lithuanian railway company Lietuvos Geležinkeliai shut down the transit of multiple types of goods to Kalningrad Oblast because those goods fall under the sanctions imposed by the European Union against the Russian Federation.
Lithuanian railway company has informed the government of Kaliningrad of this decision, as confirmed by governor of Kaliningrad Oblast Anton Alihanov.
EU has banned nearly 50% of all freight Kaliningrad received from other regions of Russia. This includes construction materials, cement and metals.
Alihanov announced that because of this decision, it is necessary to organise more ferries on Ustyug-Baltiysk ferry line to deliver necessary goods.
Kaliningrad Oblast is a Russian enclave that borders the Baltic Sea, Lithuania and Poland. Railway passenger transport is done using Lithuania’s territory, and no changes are seen there. However, aircraft pass over the Baltic Sea because Europe has shut down it air space for Russia.
In June the EU passed the sixth package of sanctions against Russia, which, among other things, expand the list of private and legal persons who are under export restrictions on dual-use goods and technologies. EU members states continue expanding the list of goods and technologies prohibited to be exported to Russia and which can assist with the development of the country’s defence sector technologies. These goods include 80 types of chemicals that may be used in production of chemical weapons.