Context: On November 20, Lithuania reopened its border with Belarus — ten days earlier than planned — after shutting it down over weather balloons carrying contraband cigarettes launched from Belarusian territory. Officials said the early reopening was primarily to allow Lithuanian long-haul drivers to return home. Two border crossings resumed operations.
The losses suffered by freight carriers at the Belarus–Lithuania border, as well as Belarus’ efforts to limit those losses, were discussed by host Polina Konoha and political analyst Vadzim Baravik on the SBTV YouTube channel on November 15, 2025.
“With these trucks, they’re already starting to threaten lawsuits and demand compensation. Some experts are saying the losses have already hit a billion euros,” Konoha said.
“We’re doing the opposite. We’re keeping their trucks safe — we’re guarding those Lithuanian rigs that got stuck in Belarus after the border closure. At minimal rates. In Europe, secure parking costs five times more. We set a kind of average Belarusian rate and made sure the cargo stays protected,” the political analyst said.
Five days earlier, Alexander Lukashenko laid out what Belarus was charging to guard the Lithuanian trucks: “The vehicles have been gathered and are under protection. Those providing security asked, I believe, for €120 per day, right? Paid for the secure lots. However many days they remain there — multiply that by €120 — pay up and take your trucks and cargo.”
We asked several long-haul drivers whether secure parking for haulers with cargo in the European Union really costs five times more. The WTF team also reviewed publicly available prices for these services. In Poland, for example, a secure lot for a truck runs €14–18 per day; in Germany, €20–40; and in France, €30–40. At the same time, the higher the price of the lot, the more amenities it offers.
It turns out, the Belarusian rate isn’t minimal at all — it’s several times higher than the European ones.
Baravik described the domestic rate as “average,” meaning typical for Belarus. That’s not true either. We looked into the cost of parking a semi-truck at a secure lot: it runs 15–20 rubles per day, or roughly €4–5. Even if each truck had its own dedicated guard, using rates from the Interior Ministry’s Security Department, the cost would come to about 11 rubles per hour, or a little over €3. That works out to roughly €80 per day.
