The Latvian government intends to impose a 300% customs duty on cereals originating from Russia and Belarus, in the context of increasing Russian transports through the Baltic ports, said Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs on Monday, reports Reuters.
Last week, officials from Latvia and Lithuania announced that they are considering the possibility of stopping the transit of Russian cereals through their ports, after Moscow intensified the use of these routes in response to Ukraine’s attacks on Russian ports in the Baltic Sea. Russian exporters are currently transporting cereals through Latvia, a member state of the European Union and NATO, to other markets, according to analysts and traders, notes Reuters, quoted by News.ro.
Russia risks losing a significant route for grain exports. The introduction of a ban or very high customs duties could block one of the main alternative routes available to Russian exporters, at a time when transports through the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov have been paralyzed by Ukrainian drone attacks. The importance of these routes for Russia is major.
During the export season of July 2025 – June 2026, Russia shipped 46.3 million tons of grains through the ports of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, according to industry data. These volumes represented approximately 90% of the total Russian grain exports transported by sea during that period.
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