In Lithuania, Proposal to Hand Over "Belarus" Sanatorium to Owners of Trucks Stranded in Belarus
Lithuanian politicians have warned local hauliers whose trucks are stuck in Belarus that they may simply lose their cargo and vehicles. It has been proposed that business owners be compensated for their material losses using frozen Belarusian assets, such as the “Belarus” sanatorium in Druskininkai.
This proposal was voiced by the Chairman of the Democratic Union «For the Sake of Lithuania,» Saulius Skvernelis. He stated that Lithuanian carriers must be prepared for the possibility that the trucks stranded in Belarus may never return home. In that case, according to the politician, the hauliers would be entitled to expect compensation.
«But it should be paid not from the Lithuanian budget, but from Belarusian assets located in Lithuania. Nothing prevents initiating legal procedures with interim protective measures against, for example, that same sanatorium in Druskininkai — to have the property valued, described by court bailiffs, and prepared so that if compensation needs to be paid, the property can be sold and the compensation paid,» outlined his plan on the ELTA airwaves Skvernelis.
In the politician’s view, in the event of the confiscation of Lithuanian lorries, Vilnius would need to take «asymmetric measures.»
Until 2020, the sanatorium in Lithuania’s Druskininkai was under the management of the Main Economic Directorate (which reports to the Administration of the President of Belarus. In mid-June 2021, the sanatorium came under EU sanctions, its bank accounts were frozen, after which it was transferred to the Republican Centre for Public Health and Sanatorium-Resort Treatment of Belarus. Earlier, Telegraf.news reported that at the end of November, the heads of two Lithuanian ministries — foreign affairs and transport, Kęstutis Budrys and Juras Taminskas — appealed to the European Commission (EC) for assistance in returning the trucks stranded in Belarus.
Литва отправила в ЕС письмо со списком требований в отношении Беларуси. Что известно?
Meanwhile, Belarusian authorities insist that resolving the situation with Lithuanian trucks at a technical level, from which the Lithuanian side refuses to move, is no longer possible without the involvement of diplomats from the two countries. Thus, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko stated that the Belarusian Foreign Ministry must secure a meeting with Lithuania to «sort out this situation.»
Лукашенко поручил МИД Беларуси добиться встречи с литовскими дипломатами
At the same time, he instructed the head of the Belarusian Security Council, Alexander Volfovich, to personally meet with the drivers of the Lithuanian lorries. Which he did.