Ukrainian attacks on Russian ports in the Black and Azov Seas (which account for 80% of Russian grain exports to markets in Serbia, North Africa, the Middle East and Asia) have forced Russia to look for other routes.
The Caspian route, to which Russian exporters are increasingly reorienting supplies, has its limitations, like a shortage of fleet and a sharp increase in transportation costs. Russian ports on the Baltic Sea (in particular in the Leningrad region) are located in the zone of damage by Ukrainian drones, such as the large port of Vysotsk, the port of Ust-Luga or the port in Kronstadt.
The port of Ust-Luga was targeted by Ukrainian drones back in 2024. Russian oil was transported through it then. Now Russia is trying to transport grain through this port.
kommersant.ru
Due to this, Russia began to shift exports to the Baltic countries: Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.
According to “UkrAgroConsult", Lithuanian Klaipeda can handle about 9-10 million tons per year, Riga — 7.5 million tons, Latvian Ventspils and Liepaja — 2.5 million tons each, and Estonian Muuga — about 2 million tons.
In September, Latvia already recorded that the transportation of Russian grain through their territory had doubled compared to last year.
Discussions have begun in Latvia and Estonia on how to resolve this issue. On October 1, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna reported that the country had banned the transit of Russian and Belarusian grain through its territory.
Latvia is considering increasing customs duties on the transportation of Russian and Belarusian grain for further export to 300% if it comes from Russia. It is planned that these rules will apply to all carriers regardless of the country of registration or owner, but the final decision has not yet been made — the last word is with the state-owned company “LatRailNet”.
At the same time, Latvia has prepared a bill that would completely ban the transit of agricultural and feed products of Russian and Belarusian origin through the country, as well as make it impossible to store them in Latvian ports.
Until this bill is voted on, Latvia is only checking whether Russia is transporting stolen Ukrainian grain.
The only one of the three countries that has not yet restricted the transit of Russian grain is Lithuania. Only since the beginning of September did they start checking whether grain is being transported from the Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia. If not, there are no obstacles.
As Lithuanian political scientist Tomas Dapkus says, this is clearly not enough: "It is not enough to simply check whether Russia is transporting stolen grain from Ukraine. It is unlikely that it will do this through the Baltic countries. The point is that Russia exports its grain."
Russia has increased the transportation of its grain through the Baltic countries, including Latvia. These cars were photographed on September 11 at "Rezekne" station, 50 km from the Russian border.
Facebook / Liene Rijkure
Official Lithuanian authorities (in particular the State Customs Service and relevant ministries) do not publish lists of private companies involved in transit, i.e. this is a commercial secret.
Although, as the former Minister of Defense and currently the Deputy Chairman of the National Security Committee of the Lithuanian Seimas Laurynas Kasciunas told Babel, the majority of Russian grain in Lithuania is exported by the “Dognus” company.
According to him, if for the whole of 2025 it transported approximately 150-200 000 tons, then in 2026 the company reached these volumes in 9 months, the projected plan for the year is 270 000 tons.
“Dogus” is registered in Klaipeda (a Lithuanian port city on the Baltic Sea). It was founded in September 2012, under the someoneʼs with a name Yurgita Lelita, but it was not possible to find out who she actually is.
Within a week and a half — on October 8 — all the shares of the company were transferred to Russian agribusinessman Alexander Dolgov. The company was engaged in grain trade through the port of Klaipeda, and some of the grain was sold to Lithuania.
The Dolgov brothers — Alexander (left) and Dmitriy.
rugrad.online
Alexander Dolgov, together with his brother Dmitriy, are the founders of the largest agricultural holding in the Kaliningrad region of Russia — “Dolgov Group”. The holding cultivates up to 50% of the regionʼs land, and the Dolgovs themselves are some of the most influential and richest people in Kaliningrad.
They are closely connected to the political authorities of the region. Since 2016, they have supported Governor Anton Alikhanov (a representative of Putinʼs “United Russia” party).
When the Dolgovs opened a new factory in the region, Alikhanov — together with the head of “Sberbank” German Gref — were honored guests and "cut the ribbon".
The Dolgovs are closely connected to political elites. They also supported the Governor of the Kaliningrad region Alikhanov. Alikhanov and German Gref (center), both now under sanctions due to Russian aggression, open the Dolgov brothersʼ factory.
newkaliningrad.ru
In October 2016, Dolgov sold “Dognus” to Lithuanian citizen Povilas Norkunas, who had been the company’s director since August of that year. A source familiar with the company’s affairs in Lithuania told Babel that Norkunas could have been the nominal owner to conceal the fact that the Dolgovs were still involved with the company.
In 2018, the owner changed again — Raimundas Sakauskas became the head. In 2021, a new head — Arunas Vasiliauskas — appeared. The company’s staff still consists of these two people.
In 2022, the Dolgov brothers supported Russiaʼs war in Ukraine. Now they are financing the Russian army. The media has a message of gratitude to the Dolgovs from the 11th Army Corps of the Baltic Fleet, which is fighting against Ukraine near Kupyansk. Employees of the Dolgov holding companies are fighting, and the brothers support their families.
“Dolgov Group” also cooperates with the Russian Penitentiary Service — they use its land in the Kaliningrad region and use the labor of prisoners.
Despite the fact that the Dolgovs officially left the “Dognus” company a long time ago, in 2022 their former head Povilas Norkunas returned to it. He is not a full-time employee, but has the right to "manage documents in the registers" and submit reports there.
In 2024, Lithuanian media published an investigation that the Dolgov brothers were still behind the “Dognus” company, which exports hundreds of thousands of tons of Russian grain from their agricultural holding.
A source familiar with the situation in Lithuania says to Babel that the Dolgovs are using the company to hide their money from Western sanctions.
The connection between the Dolgovs and “Dognus” is confirmed by the fact that the companyʼs website contains fragments of a “Dolgov Group” advertising video, as well as an image of an elevator from the city of Gusev in the Kaliningrad region (where one of the “Dolgov Group” companies is registered).
The construction of the elevator ended in 2021, when Alexander Dolgov ceased to be an official shareholder of “Dognus”.
Identical shots on the "Dognus" website and in the video "Dolgov Group".
Скриншот / dognus.lt; Скриншот / You Tube / Долгов Групп
The Deputy Chairman of the National Security Committee of the Lithuanian Seimas Laurynas Kasciunas — in a comment to Babel — says that Lithuania should quickly resolve this issue and stop the transportation of Russian grain through its territory.
“Such deliveries increase the revenues of the Russian budget and help finance the Russian military machine, which, in turn, is destroying Ukraine and trying to block the export of Ukrainian grain to world markets,” the MP believes. He has no doubt that the Russian oligarchs who profit from this business are closely connected with the Russian authorities.
“The Dolgov brothers support Russian military formations that are participating in the aggression against Ukraine. Therefore, the question should be raised not only about banning the transportation of grain, but also about including these people in the sanctions lists of the European Union,” the Lithuanian parliamentarian believes.
The Former Minister of Defense and current Deputy Chairman of the National Security Committee of the Lithuanian Seimas Laurynas Kasciunas is demanding a ban on the transportation of Russian grain and the imposition of sanctions on the Dolgov brothers.
Facebook / Laurynas Kasčiūnas