Belaruskali | D. Umbrasas / LRT
The European Union’s General Court has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a Lithuanian port operator seeking to overturn sanctions that ended the transit of Belarusian potash fertilisers through Lithuania.
The court rejected the remaining claims brought by Klaipėda-based Bulk Cargo Terminal, which is controlled by businessman Igor Udovickij, and ordered the company to pay the legal costs.
Bulk Cargo Terminal had sought to compel the Council of the European Union to adopt new rules or exemptions that would have allowed the transit of Belarusian potash through Lithuania despite EU sanctions.
However, the court found that the company had lodged its appeal after the applicable deadline and ruled that it had no authority to amend decisions adopted by the Council.
The ruling brings an end to the company’s legal challenge.
In May 2024, the General Court dismissed another part of Bulk Cargo Terminal’s case challenging the EU’s restrictive measures against Belarus. Proceedings continued only on the remaining claims, which were rejected in Wednesday’s judgment.
Lithuania halted the transit of fertilisers produced by Belarusian state-owned potash producer Belaruskali on February 1, 2022, after the European Union imposed sanctions on Belarus following Minsk’s crackdown on domestic opposition and its support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Before the sanctions took effect, Belaruskali products had been transported by rail from Belarus to the Lithuanian port of Klaipėda for export for more than a decade under a contract that had been due to run through the end of 2023.
