Lithuanian carriers still cannot retrieve their trucks detained in Belarus, as any payments for months of forced parking to the Belarusian side are considered a violation of EU sanctions.
Lithuanian carriers do not know how to legally pay the Belarusian company, which is under European Union (EU) sanctions and owns the parking lots for trucks detained in Minsk, while the Financial Crime Investigation Service (FCIS) warns that direct payments, settlements through intermediaries in Belarus, or cash transactions will be considered a violation of sanctions.
Meanwhile, the National Association of Road Carriers Linava claims that carriers are not receiving clear recommendations for legal payment. The association believes that companies that have already retrieved their trucks likely settled with "Beltamozhservice" through Belarusian partners, possibly violating sanctions.
According to the FCIS, any payments to "Beltamozhservice" are prohibited by the EU regulation on sanctions against Belarus and the national Law on International Sanctions. "The provisions of the regulation and the law provide grounds to assert that payments to the sanctioned 'Beltamozhservice' are considered a prohibited provision of funds to a sanctioned entity. Payment to a sanctioned entity through third parties may be regarded as a violation of the prohibition on participation in activities aimed at circumventing the freezing of funds and economic resources," the FCIS stated in a comment to BNS.
"The regulation is mandatory in its entirety and is directly applicable in all EU member states; it is binding for all legal entities registered or established under the laws of a member state," the agency emphasized.
According to the State Border Guard Service of Lithuania (SBGSL), since the beginning of last week until midnight Tuesday, 451 trucks that were detained in Minsk from late October to mid-November last year have already crossed the Lithuanian border. At the same time, Linava president Erlandas Mikėnas told BNS that most carriers cannot retrieve their vehicles as they have no means to pay "Beltamozhservice." "The situation is such that carriers have no opportunity to safely and legally make payments. Without payment, we are not given the trucks back," Mikėnas said to BNS. Trucks can only leave after carriers pay for their stay in the parking lots. Belarusian authorities have stated that this fee is "several times lower" than the previously established fee in Minsk of 120 euros per day.
"The company that guarded these trucks is under sanctions, so Lithuanian enterprises cannot pay it - banks do not process transfers, and it is not allowed to take cash in euros (to Belarus)," he emphasized. According to Mikėnas, carriers are consulting with the FCIS to avoid fines for violating sanctions, but they are not receiving clear answers or advice - the FCIS merely repeats that payments to Belarusians are prohibited.
The Minsk regime detained Lithuanian trucks in October last year when Lithuania temporarily closed the border due to a flow of smuggled weather balloons coming from Belarus to Lithuania, which repeatedly disrupted the operations of Vilnius Airport. Although the border was later reopened, Minsk still did not allow the trucks to leave the country, directing them to special parking lots and threatening confiscation.
