In Lithuania, they announced the possibility of banks to accept payments for Kaliningrad transit

Lithuanian banks can and should accept payments for transit between the Kaliningrad region and the rest of Russia, informed TASS with reference to the Minister of Communications and Transport of Lithuania Marius Skuodis.

“Payments can be made, it is legal. The state guarantees that only those goods that can be transported in accordance with European regulations and clarifications are in transit,” he said.

According to Skuodis, the government has done everything possible to clarify the situation. At the same time, he stressed that transit is a commercial service and its provision is not within the competence of state structures.

On July 28, it became known that the Lithuanian Siauliai Bank, which services the transit of goods to the Kaliningrad region, from September 1 refuses from working with Russia. 5 August Lithuanian Association of Banks informedthat the organization is waiting for clarification from the authorities of the republic regarding the Kaliningrad transit – credit organizations are afraid to service payments on it because of the sanctions against Russia and Belarus. European Commission Spokesperson Arianna Podesta 11 August statedthat EU sanctions do not impose a ban on the maintenance of payments for railway services, in particular, they do not prohibit payments for transit services between the Kaliningrad region and the rest of Russia. According to her, the decision to suspend payments was made by a specific bank, based on its risk assessment.

August 22 Kaliningrad authorities declaredthat they have found an alternative mechanism for paying for transit through Lithuania and that companies are already using it, but they did not provide details of this mechanism.

In mid-June, due to EU sanctions, Lithuania had already suspended the transit of some cargo to the Kaliningrad region from the rest of Russia. The country also stopped letting Russian trucks with goods through. According to the authorities of Kaliningrad, then about 50% of transit fell under restrictions.