The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has paid attention to the specific situation and evaluates it according to its competence, the service assured LETA agency.
Currently, the service does not provide further comments on this issue.
It has already been reported that among the stevedores engaged in the transshipment of manganese ore used in the Russian military industry, there are also those whose owners’ links lead to the families of ex-premier Andras Škēle and politician Ainārs Šleser (LPV), “TV3 News” previously reported.
The program stated that several stevedores are engaged in transshipment of manganese ore. Among the reloaders are also “KS Terminal” and “Rīgas ogli terminalas”. Both are located on the island of Russia.
“Rīgas coal terminal” is partially owned by the families of ex-prime minister Andras Šēles, as well as the families of the current politician, parliamentarian Ainārs Šleser (LPV), emphasized in the program.
“Rīga coal terminal” confirmed to the LETA agency that the company does not have a service contract with any transit recipient of manganese ore in Russia.
“Latvian port terminals must strictly comply with EU and US sanctions against Russian goods and cargo. Therefore, it is forbidden to transship cargo that is included in the list of EU and US sanctioned goods! Any company that violates the sanctions must be severely punished! “Riga Coal Terminal” has always worked in compliance with Latvian laws and has never violated sanctions,” Šleser wrote in his prepared response to the program.
LETA also reported that after the start of Russia’s repeated invasion of Ukraine, the supply of manganese ore needed for the weapons industry to Russia increased dramatically.
As the newspaper “Postimees” reported, since last year, part of the deliveries have been made through the port of Sillame, the operator of which is half owned by the former Prime Minister of Estonia Tītas Vehi, as well as through Latvia.
Russia relies almost entirely on manganese imports. Although there are small manganese reserves in the country, their extraction is not developed at an industrial level. Preliminary data show that in 2023, Russia will import two million tons of manganese ore, which is a record amount.
Manganese ore is used in the production of high-quality steel required for gun barrels, armored vehicles and tracks for such vehicles.
According to the information available to “Postimees”, almost 90% of the two million manganese ore exported to Russia last year was transshipped in Estonia and Latvia.
Most such cargoes are transhipped in the ports of Riga and Ventspils, but since last year, manganese ore has also been unloaded and stored in the port of Sillame before the trains go to Russia with it.
The Latvian state railway company “LDz Logistika” is one of several Latvian companies that participated in the transportation of manganese ore to Russia.
Already in 2018, the company started accepting ships carrying manganese ore from Africa. With the beginning of the repeated invasion of Russia, the volume of such cargoes increased dramatically.
Due to demand, the price of manganese has risen from US$150 before the war to US$300-350 per ton.
“Latvijas dzelzceļš” (LDz) stated in the statement released to the media after the aforementioned publication that historically manganese ore was transported through Estonian ports, but in recent years Latvian port terminals have actively attracted customers-cargo owners, thus manganese ore transportation through Latvian ports has increased and , respectively, by rail.
“Similar to other types of cargo, the issue of banning or other restrictions on manganese ore or any other group of cargo is within the competence of the European Union (EU) and it applies equally to all EU member states,” asserted LDz.
The company has justified itself that it does not accept decisions banning the transport of any group of cargoes and as a state capital company it is not entitled to make them, but is ready to “obey any state decisions”.
LDz has stated that both the company itself and its subsidiaries strictly comply with all legislation regulating international and national sanctions and do not allow any deviations from their requirements.
International sanctions do not prohibit the transportation of manganese ore to Russia.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Transport (MoT) has turned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoF) with a request to review the existing nomenclature of goods of strategic importance and the order of their circulation in order to maximally exclude any possibility that the transit corridor of Latvia is used for the transport of goods that contribute to Russia’s military capabilities, the agency LETA said this week the Minister of Transport Kaspars Briškens (P), commenting on the issue raised in the media about the transit of manganese ore to Russia.
2024-03-15 14:19:13
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