Latvian Stevedoring Company Association invites the government to not use sanctions on transit of grain from Russia to sabotage the country’s economy and not destroy the entire transit sector, the state-owned company Latvian Railway (LDz), as well as create new thousands of unemployed people. At the same time, the association stresses that by doing so the Latvian government would provide an opportunity for the development and growth of Russian ports and economy.
Transit of grain is a substantial part of Latvia’s economy. Sea ports and the railway network are equally involved in transit operations. Latvia has three large sea ports that handle grain transit operations. The overall capacity of terminals handling grain shipments exceeds ten million tonnes. An average of three million tonnes of Baltic grains is exported every year. This capacity also provides for exports of another seven million tonnes, as reported by Latvian Stevedoring Company Association.
“Without additional transit volumes, some of Latvia’s currently operating terminals will not be able to survive. 800-900 people are employed in those terminals.
Employees of shipping companies, brokers, surveyors also work at terminals. The total number of people employed at sea port transit points in Latvia exceeds 1 000,” stresses Latvian Stevedoring Company Association’s council member Jānis Kasalis.
Grains account for more than 20% of freight carried by LDz. “The total volume of freight freight carried by the company has already dropped by 15-20% over the course of the year. An even bigger drop may turn out critical for the company,” warns Kasalis.
The number of employees in LDz has gone down by more than 40% in the past five years. The ban on carrying Russian grains would put more than 7 000 remaining jobs at risk.
Latvian Stevedoring Company Association is confident an embargo on grains would not impact Russia’s economy. It would do the opposite, in fact.
If Latvia decides to limit the transit of grains, Russia will simply use other corridors. It’s also important to remember that the grains carried by railway do not remain in Latvia. They are carried to other countries. Through Europe grains are carried to poor African countries: Somalia, Mali and Nigeria.
“We also have to keep in mind that without transit of grain through Latvia, money will remain in Russia’s hands, to be used freely to reinforce the aggressor country’s economy and fuel the war machine.
Vysotsk and Ust-Luga are the most rapidly growing ports in the region. They have modern grain-handling terminals. For example, Vysotsk terminal’s capacity is four million tonnes a year. If grains don’t go through Latvia or Europe – Russian ports will profit,” says Jānis Kasalis, adding that “grains are not at all what composes Russia’s economy. In order for the aggressor to feel consequences from sanctions, we need an absolute blockade, because more than 70% of Russia’s exports consist of hydrocarbons (gas, oil, ect.).”
There have to be anti-Russian sanctions, but we also have to understand that if the sanctions are too draconic, we cannot allow them to impact our own economy. Grain transit is not the biggest problem – failure to deliver them to countries of the African continent could lead to a famine and cause a new wave of migrants to Europe. The most effective method would be to ruin the aggressor country’s economy by completely isolating it from the rest of the world, which requires global involvement from the most influential countries of the world, Kasalis continues.
Also read: BNN INTERVIEW | Filips Rajevskis: Latvian corridor will be closed, but there will be other roads. This is not the way to weaken Russia
Follow us on Facebook and X!