Rimantas Sinkevičius also said that the airport of Zokniai could be added to the supply chain of non-military cargoes of the alliance.
“They [the representatives of Kazakstan Temir Zholy] are considering the direction of Afghanistan. US cargoes to Afghanistan or from Afghanistan are an interesting option since the flow of those cargoes is not small at all. A US company was in Lithuania, visited us, and it seems that Lithuania will be chosen for the transit of non-military cargoes to Afghanistan through the port of Klaipėda and, in part, by rail. Perhaps some cargoes could be shipped through the airport of Zokniai. Until now, the bulk of cargoes to and from Afghanistan has been going through Riga. We hope to take away some of the cargo,” Sinkevičius told BNS on Monday.
Transportation of cargo was expected to be launched by the end of this year, he said. The airport of Riga is currently handling the regular transit of NATO cargo by air to Afghanistan.
The media earlier said that NATO land shipments that until now were moved to Afghanistan through Riga would go via the Lithuanian port of Klaipėda.
NATO containers delivered to the port of Klaipėda by sea would be reloaded onto rail cars and sent to Afghanistan through Belarus, Russia, and Central Asia.
