Latvia stops import of over 300 tons of oil products from Belarus due to sanctions

Latvian customs officers barred Belarusian oil products from entering the country on the back of the sanctions introduced against the Lukashenka regime, skaties.lv reports.

“We have banned the import of 383 tons of oil products from Belarus to Latvia. In fact, we came across a violation of the sanctions imposed. We were not given information about the contract, which is also indicative of a violation of the sanctions. The failed to prove the fact of the conclusion of the agreement on transportation before 25 June 2021 [then the EU Council approved the fourth package of sanctions against the Lukashenka regime],” Raimonds Zukuls, head of the Customs Department of the Latvian State Revenue Service, commented on the situation.

Sanctions prohibit transporting oil products from Belarus, but they do not apply to transportations under agreements signed prior to the introduction of the restrictions. Raimonds Zukuls refused to name the company that had ordered the oil products and said that they had been returned to Belarus.

On June 24, the Council of the EU slapped new restrictive measures on the Belarusian regime to respond to the escalation of serious human rights violations in Belarus and the violent repression of civil society, democratic opposition and journalists, as well as to the forced landing of a Ryanair flight in Minsk on 23 May 2021 and the related detention of journalist Raman Pratasevich and Sofia Sapega.

belsat.eu