Alikhanov urged not to buy goods because of Lithuania's decision on

Residents of the Kaliningrad region should not panic due to restrictions from Lithuania and buy goods from resellers. This was stated by the governor of the region Anton Alikhanov in his TELEGRAM channel.

On the eve of the Lithuanian Railways notified the Kaliningrad Railway of the termination from June 18 of the transit of a number of goods that fell under EU sanctions.

“We had difficulties in March. <...> We set up supplies, but a huge number of people spent their money buying [goods] from resellers, giving money to all sorts of unscrupulous entrepreneurs. As a result, deliveries improved, the price stabilized. I am responsible for this. Me and my team,” Alikhanov said.

According to him, the authorities of the region were preparing for such “nasty things from neighbors” and have already built and put into operation a new ferry, and together with the Ministry of Transport have relocated another dry cargo ship from other seas, which currently runs on the Ust-Luga-Baltiysk line. “The ferry complex of the Kaliningrad region will cope with new cargoes due to transit restrictions through Lithuania, we will transport everything,” the HEAD of the region emphasized.

The Kaliningrad region is the westernmost region of RUSSIA. Geographically, it is separated from the country and exists as an exclave in the Baltics. In the south, the region borders with Poland, and in the north and east - with Lithuania.

On June 17, Alikhanov, commenting on the decision of the Lithuanian authorities to stop the transit of a number of goods, said that, according to preliminary estimates, the ban would affect from 20 to 40% of the items that were transported between the Kaliningrad region and other regions of Russia. According to him, such a decision violates the protocols for the accession of the Baltic countries to the EU, the rules of free transit.

“This will require us to urgently deploy new ships and various bulk carriers on the Ust-Luga-Baltiysk line. We are already working with the Ministry of Transport, Russian Railways, Rosmorport, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” the governor said.

In early April, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis admitted that the country's authorities could close the borders with Russia and Belarus amid hostilities in Ukraine.

In response, Deputy Head of the Russian Foreign Ministry Alexander Grushko said that European countries should not "play with fire" on the issue of a possible blockade of the Kaliningrad region by blocking the borders.

On April 8, the European Union, as part of the fifth package of sanctions against Russia, excluded road transit between the Kaliningrad region and the rest of Russia from restrictions. The document states that transit road transportation between the Kaliningrad region and Russia of goods, the transportation of which is not prohibited by EU regulations, falls under the exemption from EU sanctions.