Lithuania to announce new restrictions on grain imports from Russia and Belarus, but no ban

Lithuania is not going to ban imports of Russian and Belarusian grain after the Latvian parliament last week temporarily banned imports of agricultural products from these countries. This was reported by LRT.

However, the Lithuanian Ministry of Agriculture said it would announce new restrictions on grain imports from Russia and Belarus on Monday.

“The ban is not a simple matter in principle, there is a lot of pressure from the World Trade Organization and other international organizations because of global hunger,” said Rokas Petrašiūnas, an adviser to the Minister of Agriculture, adding that “Latvians will receive a lot of criticism for this ban.”

Ignas Hoffmanas, chairman of the Lithuanian Agricultural Council, said that Lithuania could follow Latvia’s example.

“Russian grain is imported into Lithuania absolutely freely, without any control or quality checks. And the quantity is much higher. As far as we know, in 2023, at least 170 thousand tons of Russian grain were imported to Lithuania,” he said.

Lithuanian farmers are calling on the government to make a decision to restrict the transit of Russian grain through the country. Hoffmanas said he suspects that some of the Russian grain remains in Lithuania.

However, the Minister of Agriculture Kęstutis Navickas assured that only a small amount of Russian grain passes through Lithuania and all of it goes through the port of Klaipeda.

As a reminder, on February 22, the Latvian Saeima passed a resolution in two readings banning imports of Russian and Belarusian agricultural products until July 2025.

Tags: Russia, grain, Belarus, Lithuania, restrictions