The Lithuanian Transport Minister has resigned due to a contract with Belaruskali. Its break is possible only if there are government subsidies of € 49 million

Lithuanian Transport Minister Marius Skuodis resigned amid the scandal with the transportation of goods “Belaruskali”. About it informs Euroradio.

The readiness to resign was also announced by the head of the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry Gabrielus Landsbergis. The resignations of the ministers have not yet been accepted, they must be approved by the Prime Minister of the country Ingrida Šimonyte.

In turn, she promised that the Lithuanian government would find ways to terminate the agreement with Belaruskali, under which Lithuania would incur minimal costs.

Earlier it became known that “Lithuanian Railways” plans to transport goods “Belaruskali” by the end of this year, despite the sanctions imposed against the company by the United States.

Gabrielius Landsbergis stressed that such a decision causes great damage to the reputation of Lithuania and, in this regard, expressed his readiness to resign.

Earlier, the head of the Lithuanian Railways Mantas Bartushka noted that if the contract with Belaruskali is terminated, according to estimates, the company will need state subsidies in the amount of € 49 million per year.

“We are already performing a lot of actions: optimizing processes, employees, stopping certain investments. The fact is that the influence is very great, “Bartushka said, his words leads Delphi.

He also added that preliminary estimates have already been made about the loss of the railway group of about € 60 million in revenue.

“At the same time, we have other negative tendencies – Russian metals are also leaving Klaipeda port, there are fewer other Russian products, part of Belarusian products, oil products, Grodno Azot products have already left,” Bartushka added.

The head of the Lithuanian Railways noted that the advance payment of Belaruskali for December services was made in November. According to him, this money will be enough for the December cargoes, and, possibly, for some of the January ones.

“In any case, the entire logistics chain may face certain challenges, since it contains not only us, but also terminals, ship charterers,” Bartushka concluded.

Sanctions against Belaruskali were introduced USA on the anniversary of the presidential elections in Belarus, which led to a wave of protests and a new round of political repression. The restrictions also included “Absolut Bank”, the National Olympic Committee and businessmen close to the authorities.