K. Navickas: even the small import of agricultural products from Russia is a cause for concern Business

“We import a little more than 6 billion. EUR agricultural production, of which in 2023 Russian production accounted for 2.3 percent, and from Belarus – 1.6 percent (BNS)”, said K. Navickas in the program “LRT forumas”.

In 2022, agricultural production from Russia accounted for 3.6 percent. of total imports.

“But I wouldn’t want to conclude that the numbers here are small or negligible. This is not the case, because we are in the zone of indirect but war impact and that feeding of the economy of Russia and Belarus certainly does not add any satisfaction, but it is worrying,” said the minister.

According to him, Lithuania did not import wheat from Russia last year, and according to “Lietuvos geležinkėliųu” data, 161 thousand wheat was transported through the country in transit by railways. tons of grain.

In March, Lithuania together with Latvia, Estonia, Poland and the Czech Republic called on the European Commission (EC) to analyze the possibility of limiting the import of food products originating in Russia and Belarus to the Community.

According to K.Navicka, Brussels chose another, but not bad, option – the introduction of customs duties on Russian production.

“In this aspect, we are talking about the need to expand more products that should be subject to customs tariffs for imports into the European Union. We hope that we will receive support”, said the minister.

After Brussels started considering the EC’s proposal to introduce maximum import duties on Russian and Belarusian grains last Friday, Lithuania proposes to increase them on vegetables and fish products of this origin as well.

In the second half of March, Lithuania began stricter inspections of feed and food grains imported from Russia and other high-risk countries.

Last week, Lithuanian vegetable growers announced that Russian-grown vegetables, mainly cucumbers and tomatoes, are entering Lithuania through Belarus and Poland after falsified origin documents. According to the Lithuanian Greenhouse Association (LŠA), such production is sold in the country several times cheaper than local or grown in Poland or Latvia.

According to World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, Russian agricultural exports are now exempt from any EU import duties.

According to the EC, 4.8 million were imported into the EU from Russia and Belarus last year. tons of grain worth 1.5 billion euros.