The minister made the institutions aware of the thorough examinations launched by the Russian customs for Lithuanian cargo and haulers on September 11, which causes major problems for trade and transport.
"The measures are ungrounded, discriminatory and have a negative effect upon the competitiveness of the transport and trade system of Lithuania and the rest of the European Union," Linkevičius said in the letter.
In his words, when joining the World Trade Organization (WTO), Russia committed itself to refraining from actions incompatible with the WTO treaty, however, "Russia's current actions are quite the opposite."
The letter was sent to the EU's High Commissioner for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton, European Commission's Vice-President Siim Kallas, EC members Algirdas Šemeta, Karel de Gucht and Stefan Fule, the Foreign Ministry said.
On September 2 and 13, Russia's Ambassador to Lithuania Vladimir Chkhikvadze was summoned to the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry to explain the discriminatory actions aimed against Lithuanian companies.
Šemeta: Lithuania must prove discrimination
EU Tax Commissioner Algirdas Šemeta says that the European Commission could help only if Lithuania presents facts proving that measures taken by Russian customs against Lithuanian haulers are indeed discriminatory.
"In this case, facts are necessary in order to take action. We can't do so based solely on articles or stories. There must be facts. Based on these facts, solutions could be sought, for example, based on the World Trade Organization's rules," he told the business daily Verslo Žinios in an interview published on Tuesday.
First of all, Lithuania must provide facts proving discrimination against haulers of a specific country, the Lithuanian commissioner said.
"The head of the Russian customs office told our ambassador during a meeting that these were short-term measures. This was the explanation we were given. However, it was not said how long these short-term measures would last," he said.
