On March 2–4, in Lviv, Ukraine, during a meeting between the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and a delegation led by the Committee on Economics of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, there was also a discussion on joint actions to include an additional link to the Baltic–Adriatic Corridor across the European Union (EU)–Ukrainian border towards Dorohusk in the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T).
“We need to connect the Baltic and Black Seas via transport corridors with sufficient capacity, to transform the current rail connections from Klaipėda Seaport to Odesa and other Ukrainian ports into a European gauge TEN-T corridor. Such a corridor, bypassing Belarus and Russia, is important not only for Lithuania, but also for other Baltic States in order to effectively employ their seaports and reach Southern Europe,” says Loreta Maskaliovienė, Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications, who visited Lviv with the delegation.
Talking about specific steps of Lithuania and Ukraine, the Deputy Minister emphasised the identification of projects important for the implementation of this corridor and cooperation with the EU institutions. One of the most important issues at the moment is the integration of an additional connection to the transport corridor into the TEN-T Network, which would increase the overall permeability of the Ukrainian–EU border towards the Baltic Sea ports.
In order to improve the connections between Lithuania and Ukraine, the countries will continue to seek to increase the volume of freight transport by rail between Klaipėda Seaport and Ukraine. Ukraine’s involvement in the Free Rail initiative of Lithuanian Railways was also discussed, in strengthening the independence and resilience of the region’s railway systems together with the Baltic States.
The development of the European gauge track to Klaipėda and the aim of improving international logistics connections across the Polish–Ukrainian border are provided for in the memorandum of the ministers of transport of Lithuania and Poland signed in Vilnius in September 2022. At the initiative of Lithuania, other Baltic States joined the development of this corridor in January this year.
