Belarusian businessman Udovickij to acquire 30% stake in BKT

All the necessary permits have been obtained. Udovickij told BNS he did not comment on the details of the deal, but asked when he planned to complete the deal or whether he had already completed it.

The deal has already been cleared by the Lithuanian Competition Council in September, but also by the Commission for Coordination of Protection of Objects of Importance to Ensuring National Security. As early as August 2021, the latter considered Udovickij's application to acquire a 30 percent stake in BKT.

The government press office told BNS that no obstacles to the transaction have been identified in accordance with the requirements of the Law on the Protection of Objects of Importance to Ensuring National Security.

BKT is yet to submit information on the change of shareholders to the Lithuanian Center of Registers. There isn't a new record on that in the Swiss and Latvian registers.

Udovickij has 5 percent of the BKT and 65 percent indirectly owns the Swiss company Hasenberg, as reported earlier in the day. The Fortis Asset Management in Latvia has 100 percent of the latter, owned by Udovickij.

When approached by BNS, Belaruskali refused to say whether the transaction had been completed. In the spring of 2013, the Belarusian company bought a 30 percent stake in BKT for 30 million US dollars.

In recent years, BKT used to handle around 11 million tons of Belaruskali products and suspended operations in February after the EU and the US imposed their sanctions, and the Lithuanian government told Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai Lithuanian Railways, LTG, the country's state-owned railway company, to severe its contract with Belaruskali, as it was deemed a threat to the country's national security.

Since February 10, BKT's quays have been empty, and the company has announced that it will sack all 142 employees by the end of May. According to the Lithuanian social insurance fund SoDra, the company employs 40 people.

Udovickij told BNS that he expects to handle some 10 million tons of Ukrainian grain by the fall of 2023 after buying Belaruskali's shares in BKT. According to his words, BKT offered Ukraine 1 million tons of grain per month.

Udovickij says Ukrainian grain could only be shipped through Lithuania if transit through Belarus is resumed.

The businessman told BNS that large volumes of Ukrainian grain can only be transported to Lithuania after the resumption of transit through Belarus.

He said that the BKT terminal is currently handling some types of cargo.

BKT claims that its terminal is the largest in the Baltic Sea and has the capacity to handle up to 16 million tons of bulk cargo per year. The terminal handled 11.5 million tons of bulk fertilizers last year, up 15 percent from 2020.

The terminal's revenue stood at 95 million euros last year, up 5 percent from 2020, and it made a profit of 16.1 million euros, up 1.2 percent. BKT also paid 4.7 million euros in dividends for 2021.