Group of legislators proposes suspending Russian and Belarusian agricultural imports

A group of MPs from various political groups proposes suspending imports to Lithuania of agricultural products and feed whose country of origin is Russia or Belarus.

The bill was cosponsored by nearly 20 MPs. If approved, the ban would be in effect from 15 April 2024 until 1 July 2025.

Chairman of the Seimas Committee on Rural Affairs, Viktoras Pranckietis, says the draft law will be put forward in the first days of the spring session that starts 10 March.

According to him, grain purchase prices fall for the sole reason of unrestricted and uncontrolled imports from Russia and Belarus. The MP told ELTA that the ban would put an end to the flow of grain that misbalances the local market.

Stopping Russian grain transit was one of the demands of farmers who held a protest in Vilnius in January 2024.