The president of the Lithuanian road transport association Linava, Erlandas Mikenas, has announced the tariff ultimately set by Belarusian authorities for “parking” in Belarus.
Vehicles with Lithuanian registration were moved to special holding areas in November last year after Lithuania closed its border with Belarus over smugglers’ weather balloons. At the time, Aliaksandr Lukashenka said the fee would be 120 euros per day. Yesterday, trucks began to be released from Belarus, and today the first vehicles have already entered Lithuania. The Belarusian State Customs Committee had also stated that the fee had been significantly reduced, though no exact figures were provided. According to Mikenas, a tractor–semi-trailer unit will be charged 47 euros per day.
“Prices have been set, carriers are reviewing them, but not everyone is satisfied. Those people, the delegation and representatives of the initiative group who were in Belarus, could comment more, but as far as I know, a price was promised that would cover actual costs. (…) At present, a truck with a semi-trailer costs about 47 euros per day, which some carriers consider quite high,” Delfi quoted Mikenas as saying.
He noted that the process of returning vehicles has already begun. At the same time, the head of Linava expressed the view that at such rates it may not be economically viable to retrieve all trucks.
“As for prices, of course, carriers will decide. In my view, not all vehicles are worth retrieving at such a price, but we will see how it turns out in practice,” he said.
According to him, not all carriers will be able to raise the required amount, as the cost per truck comes to about 6,000 euros.
Mikenas added that once the trucks are returned, the association will discuss support measures for carriers.