The president of the Lithuanian carriers' association "Linava," Erlandas Mikenas, stated that the situation with trucks detained in Belarus has not changed — vehicles are not being returned, and carriers continue to receive bills for their mandatory storage in paid parking lots.
"The situation has essentially not changed — vehicles owned by Lithuanian carriers are still detained on the territory of Belarus. We currently have no confirmed cases of the return of tractors or semi-trailers to their owners," said E. Mikenas to the ELTA agency.
According to him, association members continue to receive bills for the so-called storage of vehicles — a fee of about 120 euros per day per unit of equipment is applied, and they are also required to sign service contracts.
The president of the association reported that "Linava" has partially collected data on the detained vehicles of its members and passed it on to the responsible Lithuanian authorities.
According to the latest information received from 149 companies, 1071 vehicles are currently detained in Belarus — 496 tractors and 575 semi-trailers.
"These data are not final, as they only cover those companies that have contacted the association and provided information. Preliminary estimates suggest that the actual number of detained vehicles may reach up to 4,000," he noted.
According to the head of "Linava," the losses of one company can reach hundreds of thousands of euros, while the total losses for the sector are estimated in millions of euros.
The crisis at the border began after Belarus violated Lithuania's airspace with balloons for several months. As a result, in late October last year, the Lithuanian government decided to close the border crossings of Medininkai and Šalčininkai.
As a result, Lithuanian trucks became blocked on the territory of Belarus. The Belarusian authorities collected the trucks parked on the roadside and sent them to paid parking lots, where fees are charged.
In order to return the stuck trucks, Lithuania prematurely opened both border crossings. However, not all stuck trucks can leave the territory of Belarus yet.
