Latvia is considering increasing the railway tariff for the transit of Russian grain

On September 17, the Latvian Seimas began consideration of a bill that will allow for an accelerated review of the fee for using the railway infrastructure during the transit of grain from Russia by the end of the year.

This is reported by Delfi.

The Seimas conceptually supported the government’s amendments to the Law “On Railways” and submitted them for consideration by the Budget and Finance Committee.

Currently, a tariff change requires a two-month period of preliminary publication. The government proposes to shorten this procedure, while maintaining consultations, economic justification of tariffs and independent regulatory supervision.

After the amendments are adopted, the increased fee may come into effect in approximately three weeks. The railway infrastructure operator LatRailNet is planned to be offered a tariff of 300%.

All transportation of grain sent from the territory of Russia, regardless of the country of registration of the carrier, may fall under the new procedure. This may also apply to grain of other origin, if it is transported through the Russian Federation.

In parallel, the Seimas is considering a separate bill on a complete ban on the transit of Russian and Belarusian grain through Latvia.

The authorities moved to tighten restrictions after the transit of Russian grain through Latvian ports increased by 56% year-on-year in August.

Earlier, USM reported that Latvia and Lithuania may stop transshipment of Russian grain through their ports.