Lukashenko sees no need to resume transit of Belarusian potassium chloride through Lithuania
MINSK. May 29 (Interfax) - Belarus has completely rerouted its potash fertilizer exports and there is no need to resume transit through Lithuania, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said.
"Potash prices have jumped, mineral fertilizers. All volumes are under contract, and even if we wanted to supply someone else, we don't have a single free tonne of mineral fertilizers. Not just potash, phosphorus, nitrogen, they are all already under contract at good prices," he told reporters at the EAU summit in Astana.
Belarus has already rerouted its fertilizer supplies and generally does not experience any problems in this regard, he said.
"The markets have been reconfigured and reoriented. Of course, it would be nice if, as before, we could load that potash in Lithuania, right next door to us. That would bring even higher margins. But it's not working out. They don't want to meet us halfway, so we load it in Russia. So it's not a problem," Lukashenko said.
U.S. Special Presidential Envoy John Coale at the end of March called on Vilnius to reinstate bilateral dialog with Minsk and that Belarusian potash fertilizers, U.S. sanctions on which had been lifted, should be supplied to buyers via Lithuania.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda and several other Lithuanian government officials said Lithuania would continue to comply with EU sanctions and that there were no plans to resume transit of Belarusian potassium chloride.
Following talks with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on March 19, Coale announced the lifting of U.S. sanctions on Belinvestbank, the Belarusian Development Bank and the Belarusian Finance Ministry. He also said that Belaruskali and its trader, Belarusian Potash Company, had been removed from all sanctions lists initiated by the United States.
Belaruskali, the largest producer of potassium chloride in Belarus. Before it was hit by Western sanctions, it exported 10-11 million tonnes to 107 countries annually through BPC and made up more than a 20% share of the global potash fertilizer market. The company's main operations are now based at the Starobinskoye potash deposit in the Minsk region and include four mine administrations, auxiliary production facilities and servicing units.
The U.S. imposed sanctions against Belaruskali in August 2021. The European Union imposed key sectoral sanctions against the Belarusian potash industry in June of that year, and these were tightened throughout 2022.
Effective February 1, 2022, the Lithuanian government terminated its agreement with Belaruskali for the transit of potassium chloride through the port of Klaipeda, which traditionally handled nearly the entire annual export volume of Belarusian potassium chloride at 10-11 million tonnes.
As a result of this, Belarus began exporting potash through Russian ports and also ships mineral fertilizers to China by railway.
