Battle over Belarus sanctions in Lithuania turns to Belaruskali – regime's financial backbone 10 Belaruskali plant / Shutterstock On Thursday, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the main leader of the Belarusian opposition, called on Lithuania to impose sanctions on Belaruskali, a state-owned fertiliser manufacturer and a source of hard currency for Alexander Lukashenko’s regime. “We raised the question [with Lithuanian politicians] of increasing the cost of delivery [and] transit,” Tikhanovskaya told BNS. “To put some conditions – if you fire people, then we will raise the price or we will just cut this transit.” The multi-billion company is estimated to employ 16,000 people and is one of the largest fertiliser producers in the world. Most of Belaruskali’s exports go via Klaipėda and make up a significant share of profits of the Lithuanian port and state-owned railways company.