Head of Lithuanian hauliers' association visits Belarus. What is the latest on the stranded lorries?
The head of the Lithuanian National Hauliers’ Association (Linava), Erlandas Mikėnas, has travelled to Belarus to assess personally the situation regarding lorries that have been unable to return to Lithuania since the border opening.
Mikėnas has already visited the lorry park in the border area of Kotlovka. According to him, 99.9% of the vehicles parked there are Lithuanian lorries and trailers with Lithuanian registration plates.
In a comment to the Lithuanian portal 15min, Mikėnas contradicted yesterday’s statements by Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė, who «estimated» just 280 Lithuanian lorries on Belarusian territory. According to Linava’s data, the figures have remained unchanged since the opening of the Lithuanian border crossing points at «Medininkai» and «Šalčininkai».
«The Belarusian customs service reports 1,880 Lithuanian lorries. By our count, that is 1,450 lorries and up to 4,000 semi-trailers. I do not know who is providing the Prime Minister with such information. We have come to see for ourselves and count the number of vehicles,» stated the head of Linava.
Mikėnas described the conditions for the lorries’ storage, organised by the Belarusian side, as «civilised,» but stressed that «this does not change the substance of the matter,» as these lorries still cannot leave for Lithuania.
Although the possibility of returning the semi-trailers was announced the day before, the president of Linava emphasised that, in reality, absolutely nothing is happening at the moment.
«Currently, due to sanctions, tractor units without semi-trailers are not permitted to leave Lithuania. How can we retrieve the semi-trailers on their own? For now, it’s impossible,» Mikėnas explained, outlining the problem of why Lithuanian hauliers are technically unable to recover their semi-trailers even with permission from the Belarusian side.
According to him, preparations are currently underway for a potential «large-scale operation» to repatriate the Lithuanian lorries. preliminarily, Lithuanian hauliers have agreed with the customs service that it will allow lorries registered in Lithuania to cross the border, even without semi-trailers, so that they can collect the semi-trailers stranded in the neighbouring country. This would be possible if the Belarusian authorities approve this scheme; however, according to Mikėnas, a decision has not yet been made by the Belarusian side.
The head of Linava also noted that if all 1,500 lorries were sent to the border at once, enormous queues would be inevitable.
«Therefore, we have coordinated our actions in advance with the Customs Department regarding the throughput capacity at Medininkai and Šalčininkai,» Mikėnas explained.
Telegraf.news previously reported that President Gitanas Nausėda refused to escalate the issue of returning Lithuanian lorries stranded in Belarus, despite the now-open border, to a political level, as insisted by the Belarusian side. In the view of the Lithuanian politician, the matter should remain at a technical level and not be handed over to diplomats.
МИД объявил, что Беларусь может не открыть пункты пропуска с Литвой и Польшей
Meanwhile, the Belarusian side continues to insist that it is no longer possible to resolve the situation without the involvement of diplomats. The other day, the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, stated that the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs must secure a meeting with Lithuania to «sort out this situation.» Furthermore, he instructed the head of the Belarusian Security Council, Alexander Volfovich, to meet personally with the drivers of the Lithuanian lorries, which he did.
Лукашенко поручил МИД Беларуси добиться встречи с литовскими дипломатами