Lithuania prepares to ban transit of some goods to Belarus and Russia

The Ministry of Economy and Innovation of Lithuania will register a proposal to create a list of dual-use goods, which will be prohibited to bring through the Lithuanian territory to Belarus and Russia, as well as for further export. The main purpose of the initiative is to limit the entry of technologies to the battlefield in Ukraine, reports Delfi.

Minister of Economy of Lithuania Aušrinė Armonaitė says that they have been collecting information about the transit of such goods for some time. And since there is information that the Russian Federation may use them in weapons in Ukraine, a ban has been proposed. "Such goods will not pass us to go on the battlefield, the territory of Lithuania will not be used for this," the Minister notes. According to her, 65 codes of goods have already been identified.

"Some of these goods are not subject to sanctions, some of them are. The list will be long, mainly electronics," Armonaitė said.

It is assumed that Lithuanian exports will not suffer from the new regulations, as 93% of the mentioned goods do not come from Lithuania. Deputy Minister Karolis Zhemaitis added that Lithuanian carriers "hardly participate in this because they cannot and the vast majority of them do not want to".

The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry is consulting with the European Commission. It is assumed that the decision may appear in July 2023.