Closure Of The Border With Poland Hit Belaruskali
- 22.09.2025, 20:50
The enterprise is incurring huge losses.
Since September 12, 2025, the Polish authorities have completely closed the border with Belarus. This decision was related to the major military exercises "West-2025" and possible threats to Poland's security. Key railway crossings, including Brest, were also banned, which led to the actual stoppage of transit traffic on the China-Europe route through the Belarusian territory. "Community of Railwaymen of Belarus" estimates the losses incurred by Belarusian enterprises.
For the Belarusian Railroad, such a situation immediately meant big losses.
Each container train carries an average of about 120-130 containers, and although the Belarusian side receives only 10-15% of the cost of transportation, the total lost income may reach $40-50 million by the end of September.
A few dozen trains, which can't cross the border, have gathered at railway stations in Belarus. Some of them are officially considered "abandoned" trains, but the trains, standing in Brest, have not yet been transferred to this status, so they have not been transferred to the idle zone and therefore increase the actual load.
Additional difficulties are created by the internal situation at the Belarusian Railroad. Due to large debts to Belneftekhim, diesel fuel supplies have been limited, and the industry has been working in "economy mode" for several weeks. This affects the movement of diesel locomotives and complicates operational activities in general.
The closure of the border also affected the interests of the main Belarusian exporter - Belaruskali. The company used to use empty containers returning from Europe to send fertilizers to China. Now this flow has stopped, and there is a shortage of containers.
As a result, the company must either buy containers in Russia at higher prices or reduce exports. This makes supplies less flexible and increases the cost of production, which worsens the position of Belarusian potash on the Asian market, where there is already strong competition from Russia and Canada.
Although at the level of rumors there are possible dates of partial restoration of traffic through Brest crossing at the end of September (26-28), there is no official confirmation of this yet. If the blockade is prolonged, the problem may turn from a temporary to a systemic one: Belarus will lose some transit contracts, which will be reoriented to other routes, and Belaruskali will become even more dependent on Russian ports and infrastructure.
Thus, the closure of the Polish border has become a blow to two important areas at once - transit between China and Europe and Belarusian exports of potash fertilizers. For the country's economy, this means higher costs, loss of flexibility and even greater dependence on Russia.