Since the start of March a ship with 55 000 tonnes of potassium chloride remains anchored at the Freeport of Riga. Due to the sanctions imposed on Russian oligarchs this ship is unable to leave, as reported by LTV programme De facto.
The fertilizer cargo is owned by a firm that is under EU sanctions imposed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Unlike other mineral fertilizer cargoes under sanctions and which are allowed to be carried from the country with permission from the State Environment Service (VVD), here are no plans to act the same way in this specific case.
According to the programme, the ship is not allowed to leave nor dock at the port. The potassium chloride it has on board belongs to a firm that is under international sanctions imposed against Russian businessman Dmitry Mazepin, who is considered to be close to the Kremlin.
Now, many months later, different institutions are still at a loss as to how this situation can be resolved.
Approximately a week after the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Asian Majesty bulk carrier already partially loaded entered the Freeport of Riga from St. Petersburg and took on board a shipment of potassium chloride. Since then the ship has remained in the Gulf of Riga.
EU imposed sanctions on Mazepin, who owns a mineral terminal and Mauritius-based firm United Fertilizers Company Limited, which owns the fertilizer shipment on board the ship. The value is estimated at USD 17 million.
The permit for the ship to leave port with its cargo was requested two months later. However, customs prohibited the ship from leaving due to sanctions.
The owner of the ship is a Singapore-based company. Sanctions do not apply to the ship itself and its crew. They would be allowed to leave Latvia’s territory if they had no cargo that is considered frozen economic resource on board.
Unlike other cases, this time there is no buyer who is not under sanctions waiting for the cargo.
«In this case, considering the information we have, this cargo would end up within territory of another person under sanctions. In other words, we have to make sure there is a justified reason to release these economic resources or if EU legislative acts contain some exception for this situation,» says Ministry of Foreign Affairs Legal Office manager Kristīne Līce.
«There are specific exception – environmental safety, people’s safety. We have to see if any of these exceptions apply here.»
Five institutions have been working on a solution for the last several months – Ministry of Foreign Affairs, State Environment Service, Finance and Capital Market Commission, Sate Revenue Service and Freeport of Riga authority. However, they have yet to come to a solution.
No solution has been found so far because neither the ship nor the cargo is owned by Latvia-based firm. They doesn’t have a local bank account and they are not leaning towards cooperation, according to representatives of different institutions.
«We haven’t seen a very constructive reaction to, for example, information from customs officials, which states this cargo can be unloaded at any EU sea port that has appropriate infrastructure. Then this cargo would be frozen and the ship and crew would be able to leave,» said Līce.