Having received no help from their authorities, Lithuanian carriers turned to Lukashenko

Foreign carriers appealed to the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko to resolve the situation with trucks with Lithuanian registration. This was announced by Belarusian Prime Minister Alexander Turchin on March 17.

"Your appeals have been addressed to the President of our country regarding ways out of the situation with trucks with Lithuanian registration. As you well know, four months ago, the leadership of the Republic of Lithuania, in violation of all international norms, closed the borders with our country. One of the consequences of this step was the impossibility of trucks leaving in the direction of Lithuania... The Head of State considered the carriers' appeal and, guided by humanitarian grounds, instructed the Prime Minister to meet with the carriers and listen to their position," he said during a meeting with Lithuanian and Polish carriers.

According to Turchin, the Belarusian side is ready to consider the current situation in order to find possible ways to resolve it. He also noted that the Belarusian side had been offering Vilnius negotiations for four months to resolve the situation with Lithuanian trucks and other issues, but the Lithuanian authorities did not negotiate.

"Unfortunately, the Lithuanian government probably has more important things to do," Turchin said.

At the same time, the head of the Government of Belarus stressed that "the Belarusian side, despite the frankly unfriendly policy of neighboring states, takes a constructive position and intends to take into account the interests of all interested parties as much as possible." He also noted that, despite the possibility of confiscation of vehicles, the Belarusian side has no intention or desire to take advantage of this.

"Our desire is to negotiate constructively and get out of the current situation," Turchin said.

In addition, Turchin said that during a recent visit, representatives of the Lithuanian Association of carriers had the opportunity to make sure that all vehicles are in secure parking lots and in good condition.

Therefore, the business wants to apply to the European Commission with a request for assistance in returning the detained transport and compensation for losses

Let us remind you that in the autumn of 205 Lithuania unilaterally closed the border with Belarus for several weeks. As a result, thousands of trucks and trailers with Lithuanian registration remained on the Belarusian territory. All of them were moved to paid parking lots until the issue of their return was resolved with Vilnius. To date, the Lithuanian authorities have not agreed to negotiate on this issue with Minsk. At the same time, the owners of parking lots are commercial organizations, and the Belarusian authorities believe that the costs of these companies should be compensated. One day in a guarded parking lot costs 120 euros. In some cases, amounts have accumulated for this service, which significantly exceed the cost of the machines themselves.