How much will Belarus railways lose if the EU shuts the border?
If the border is closed, the problems will take a long time to solve / newsbel.by
Poland, Lithuania and Latvia are threatening Belarus with a complete closure of the border due to the migration crisis and escalating provocations. The Community of Railway Workers of Belarus has calculated how much the Belarusian Railway will lose if the neighbors carry out their threats.
We're talking about five railway checkpoints through which goods pass: three points on the border with Poland ("Brest - Terespol", "Bruzgi - Kuznica", "Svislač - Siemianówka"). One with Lithuania ("Gudogai - Kena") and one with Latvia ("Bigosovo - Indra"). The "Stasilos - Beniakoni" point on the border with Lithuania was closed in February 2023.
According to the information of the Community of Railway Workers of Belarus, in the first seven months of 2023, the Belarusian Railway (BRW) earned more than $155 million on transportation across the European border, including cargoes from China.
The largest flow was through Poland - $98 million, followed by Lithuania - $37.8 million and Latvia - $19.6 million.
BRW received about $6 million more from passenger transportation to the Kaliningrad region via Lithuania.
Total revenues of BRW from passenger and cargo transportation across the border with the European Union for seven months of 2023 amounted to more than $161 million.
It's about $23 million per month, which means that the losses may amount to about $280 million for the year.
"These are only direct losses. Indirect losses will be heavier and more tragic. Moreover, while Belarus can use more expensive ways to deliver cargoes through Russia for export-import transportation, we see no compensatory measures for transit cargoes.
According to the community of railway workers, BRW will have to reduce its staff, while the condition of the railway to the west and north of Minsk will deteriorate.
"The blockade will have a catastrophic effect on many important railway junctions. In particular, Brest will suffer as a hub serving the Polish direction. Here we can openly talk of the liquidation of the BRW department as a structure.
