Igor Udovickij, the key shareholder of Biriu Kroviniu Terminalas (Bulk Cargo Terminal, or BKT), a port operator that handles 11 million tons of the Belarusian potash giant's fertilizers annually, declined to comment on the situation on Monday.
"I have no comments yet because the situation is still unclear," he told BNS when asked whether he still expected BKT to load Belarusian fertilizers after February 1 and what cargoes the company is looking to handle in the future.
Vaidotas Sileika, president of the Association of Lithuanian Stevedoring Companies, was also reluctant to comment on the situation.
"We learn about these processes from the media, rather than from other sources, so today it would be difficult to comment (...) without knowing all the details," he told BNS.
Sileika said earlier in January that a halt in the transit of Belarusian fertilizers would mean a significant loss of cargo for the port and that Lithuania's entire transport and logistics sector would feel an impact.
He said this could also increase internal competition within the port.
Klaipeda Mayor Vytautas Grubliauskas told BNS on Monday that some port operators were worried about the looming halt to fertilizer shipments.
"The main change is that it will become a reality in a few hours. Nobody doubts that certain processes are going to start," the mayor said.
"I can see anxiety among port operators, maybe not all of them, but those involved in fertilizer handling. This is natural, because they are starting to live according to a completely different calendar."
Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai (Lithuanian Railways, LTG) has terminated its long-term contract with the US-sanctioned Belarusian potash fertilizer giant as of February 1 after the Lithuanian government ruled on January 12 that it was not in line with the national security interests.
Under the contract, 10 million to 11 million tons of Belaruskali fertilizers were loaded onto ships in Klaipeda annually in recent years.
The Customs Department has told BNS that seven trains with 399 wagons of potash fertilizers passed through Lithuania on Monday. The last of them crossed into the country at 8:30 p.m.
According to LTG, the empty wagons will be returned to Belarus by the end of the week. As of Monday afternoon, there were about 1,000 of them in Lithuania.