Belarus (bbabo.net), - Vilnius proposes to include the railway connection with Klaipeda in the trans-European transport network, Sputnik Lithuania reports.
Deputy Transport Minister Loreta Maskaloveni believes that this will help to ensure "better international rail transport interoperability" and the competitiveness of the port in Klaipeda, as well as increase the country's integration into the EU transport system.
“The construction of a fully electrified and environmentally friendly railway line from Kaunas to Klaipeda is one of the priorities of the Lithuanian transport sector,” Maskaloveni said.
According to the Deputy Minister, "the creation of high-speed European railways leading to the Lithuanian port city" will fundamentally "change the transport system of Lithuania, create a viable alternative to road transport and opportunities for sustainable mobility of the population of the regions."
Maskaloveni also drew attention to the fact that after the implementation of the Rail Baltica project, the harbor in Klaipeda - the fourth largest in the region - will become the only port of this size on the eastern coast of the Baltic that cannot be reached by European gauge railways.
The Deputy Minister noted that “in the context of geopolitical factors and the ongoing pandemic, the port in Klaipeda“ must develop in accordance with the needs of a changing market, and the infrastructure must be oriented towards diversification of port activities and environmental sustainability ”. The cargo turnover of the port in Klaipeda in 2020 amounted to about 48 million tons.
Meanwhile, against the background of the departure of Belarusian cargoes from the port of Klaipeda, Lithuania faces serious losses. Earlier, the outgoing head of Lithuanian Railways, Mantas Bartushka, said that in case of loss of fertilizers by the Belarusian enterprise Belaruskali, which fell under US sanctions, the Latvian Railways will need subsidies of € 60 million a year. “At the same time, we have other negative tendencies - Russian metals are leaving the Klaipeda port, other Russian goods are decreasing, some Belarusian goods, oil products, products of Grodno Azot have already left,” Bartushka emphasized.
bbabo.Net