12.09.2026 Trade & Markets #EU #Russia #Export #Duties #Logistics #Statistics

Latvia plans 300% tariff on grain from Russia and Belarus

Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs said on September 7, 2026 that his government plans a 300% tariff on grain and processed grain products from Russia and Belarus. Latvia's task, he said, is to prevent the region's infrastructure from being used for Russian grain (tks.ru). The rate is effectively prohibitive and targets the Baltic transit corridor, which became the main alternative to Black Sea routes after strikes on ports in the Azov-Black Sea basin.

How Riga plans to seal off transit

The exact mechanism has not been finalized — this is a coalition plan, not an adopted legal act. Latvia has outlined several parallel steps:

tighter control over transit cargo;
verification of grain origin jointly with Ukrainian laboratories, including checks for shipments from occupied Ukrainian territories;
aligning the policy with Lithuania and Estonia so the restriction applies across the Baltics.

A week earlier, officials in both Latvia and Lithuania said they were considering halting transshipment of Russian grain through their ports (Reuters).

Where the grain has been flowing

By mid-August 2026, bookings to ship Russian grain through Baltic ports since the start of the season reached roughly 5 million tonnes — against about 46 million tonnes shipped through Black Sea and Azov ports in 2025, and only around 1 million tonnes through northern ports (tks.ru). The Baltic route gained weight precisely because of the problems with southern port infrastructure.

What it means for exporters and traders

Boris Kopeikin, chief economist at the Stolypin Institute of Growth Economics, calls the proposed tariff prohibitive and warns that the Baltic states risk losing transit revenue. Nikolai Novik of the HSE Institute for World Military Economy and Strategy notes that rerouting flows to the Baltic had already added roughly $40-50 per tonne to export costs; closing the route would force new logistics schemes and probably push costs higher still (tks.ru).

The buyer map is shifting in parallel. Between July 1 and September 8, 2026, Iran became Russia's largest grain buyer at 913,700 tonnes — corn 498,100 tonnes, barley 292,500 tonnes, wheat 123,100 tonnes. Egypt bought 846,800 tonnes over the same period, according to ProZerno data (tks.ru). Across the full 2025/26 season Russia exported more than 61 million tonnes of grain and legumes, with Egypt, Turkey and Iran remaining the largest buyers.

What still needs to be agreed

For now this is a stated intention of the Latvian government: the mechanism, the rates for individual product lines and the effective date still have to be settled, including with Lithuania and Estonia. Exporters and traders using the Baltic corridor should build the risk of its closure into their logistics planning and start lining up alternative destinations now — following the shift toward Iran and Egypt that has already taken place.

Primary sources

This material is for information only and does not constitute legal advice or customs consulting. Verify changes against the primary sources before acting.