The government plans to make a specific decision on this issue next week. The Prime Minister stated that he discussed this problem with the head of the Ukrainian government, asking how Latvia should respond to the situation after Russia blocked the Black Sea channel for grain transportation. According to Kulbergs, Russia mixes grain stolen from Ukraine with Russian grain and transports it through the ports of other countries. Currently, pressure related to the transit of grain cargoes is being exerted on all ports in the Baltic states. The Prime Minister noted that it was a surprise for him that the PVD had not had the right to check transit batches of grain throughout the years of the war. This right will be granted to the service by a government decision. Ukraine, he said, is ready to send its experts to Latvia who will be able to determine which grain was grown in Ukraine and help establish whether the incoming transit batches of grain to Latvia contain grain stolen from Ukrainian territory. In 2024, Lithuania, Ukraine, and the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs signed a trilateral memorandum of understanding on a grain inspection scheme. Lithuanian regulations stipulate that when inspecting certain transit cargoes, samples are taken from all railway cars or vehicles, and laboratory studies are conducted directly to determine the origin of the grain. According to Kulbergs, Latvia plans to sign a similar memorandum. Next week, the government may also consider the possibility of banning the transit of Russian grain through Latvia. Kulbergs instructed the relevant ministries to develop stricter requirements for the volume of evidence provided, including additional declarations and confirmations, within the next week. This is necessary to ensure that the grain being transshipped or transported in transit was not obtained from temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. Together with the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, a mechanism for verifying grain of Ukrainian origin is to be created. It will involve using data available to Ukrainian authorities, checking documents and tracking cargo movements, as well as developing technical solutions for conducting laboratory studies. Industry enterprises are also ready to engage in strengthening control over the origin of grain. They intend to provide practical assistance to government agencies in creating a more effective cargo tracking system and identifying high-risk batches. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, together with the ministries of justice, finance, agriculture, and other involved agencies, has been tasked with preparing legally justified proposals for the introduction of restrictive measures regarding grain for which there are reasonable suspicions or evidence that it originates from temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. The results of the assessment and specific proposals must be presented to the Cabinet of Ministers. It was previously reported that Kulbergs instructed to conduct an inspection of the origin of transit grain in Latvian ports.
