To reduce the cost of transporting Ukrainian grain to the port of Klaipeda, Lithuanian businesses and scientists propose to deliver it to Kaunas by rail, and then transport it along the Neman River to Klaipeda. At the same time, railway operator Lietuvos gelezinkeliai considers this project unrealistic, BNS has reported.

The initiative to use river transport for grain transportation, while it is traditionally delivered to Klaipeda by rail, arose in the light of the diplomatic efforts of the Lithuanian authorities to expand opportunities for the export of Ukrainian products through the ports of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

"When transporting Ukrainian grain by rail and reloading it in Kaunas, one would have to change the railway track or reload containers from one rolling stock to another once, not twice – this would significantly affect cost savings... The European experience also shows that domestic transportation of goods by water can be 30-40% cheaper than by land," CEO of the Bega stevedoring company (operating in the port of Klaipeda) Laimonas Rimkus said.

According to him, the new logistics route may involve grain warehouses and transshipment equipment of Linas Agro, operating in Kaunas and Jurbarkas.

The Ministry of Transport of Lithuania told BNS that they are considering all proposals related to assistance in the export of grain from Ukraine.

"All proposals, even non-traditional ones, on alternative routes for transporting grain from Ukraine are relevant, useful and are under consideration," the ministry said.

Meanwhile, Lietuvos gelezinkeliai's freight forwarding company, LTG Cargo BNS, told BNS that the proposed idea of transporting grain to Kaunas would not be evaluated, since the river port in Kaunas is not connected to railways.

"The company did not evaluate the previously mentioned alternative modes of transport, as there is currently no infrastructure that could connect the railway and the river port in Kaunas," the company said in a comment.

Earlier, the port of Klaipeda said that it could receive more than 10 million tonnes of Ukrainian grain, but the biggest problem remains how to deliver it to the port. In general, in the ports of the Baltic countries, according to the Lithuanian authorities, it is possible to transship 25 million tonnes of grain per year. At the same time, the head of the stevedoring company Bega said that after the fall in grain prices, it is no longer profitable for sellers to export Ukrainian grain through Klaipeda, they are looking for a suitable infrastructure in the Danube region.

"He [the seller] chose a shorter route – not to go to Lithuania through Poland, he chooses the Danube region, he goes to other countries. Unfortunately, to the detriment of Lithuania, the river infrastructure and terminals are developing very strongly there. We know there are big changes, and I would not really hope that it [grain] will be transported to Klaipeda – Klaipeda is too far away," Rimkus said in July.

Ukraine has been exporting the bulk of grain and other agricultural products through its ports on the Black Sea for many years. However, after the start of the war on the territory of the country, the work of the ports was severely limited. Export flows were largely redirected to Europe.