Lithuanian Parliamentarians: 2K Project Better for Kaliningrad than Klaipeda

Speaking in Kaliningrad at the 3rd interparliamentary forum of Lithuanian Parliament and Kaliningrad Regional Duma, Yuozas Darulis, a department head from the Ministry of Transportation of Lithuania, said that the international 2K project did nothing for the port of Klaipeda.

Nr. Darulis said that, since the carrying out of this project had begun, the volume of transshipping through the port of Klaipeda had dropped to 1.5 million tonnes, while transshipping via Kaliningrad had increased by 60%. According to the Lithuanian official, this was the result of misbalanced tariff policies. For instance, the delivery of 1 tonne of metal from Magnitogorsk to Kaliningrad costs USD 30 and to Klaipeda - USD 56. Mr. Darulis believes that the 2K project must be legislatively reinforced, an intergovernmental agreement signed.

The representatives of the Kaliningrad Regional Duma supported the Lithuanian diplomat, saying that it was the time the project stopped being purely political and became economic. However, they disagreed that the project had resulted in the redistribution of cargoes in favour of Kaliningrad. They said that the flow of cargoes must be monitored in order to find out which way unaccounted for cargoes were going.

The 2K international project has been carried out for 2 years, aiming at creating advantageous conditions for the two ports.