Protest in Jēkabpils against Russian grain transit; PM Kulbergs met with jeers

A protest called “No to blood grain!” (“Asins graudiem – nē!”) was held in Jēkabpils on Saturday, 7 November, starting at 11:00. Participants demand that the Latvian government ban the transit of grain from Russia and Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine along Latvia's railways. Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs (AS) also attended, and according to eyewitnesses the crowd whistled and jeered during his speech, voicing dissatisfaction with the government's inability to influence the situation.

What happened at the protest

The news agency LETA reported dozens of heavy vehicles, including tractors and grain trucks, parked near the venue. Some attendees said they had come to support the action because Latvian farmers also suffer from the grain transit.

The initiator is farmer and public activist Gundars Kalve. The organisers say that although Latvian society has widely supported Ukraine since the war began — by taking in refugees, donating funds and delivering humanitarian aid — it is unacceptable for Latvia's transport infrastructure to still be used for Russian grain shipments. They also stress that as Russia loses some of its earlier export and transit routes, each remaining corridor becomes more important, so Latvia should not become one of the last countries to carry such cargo.

The prime minister's position

In a post published by LETA, Kulbergs said at the event that transit must be stopped because “we do not have to feed the war machine.” He had earlier acknowledged that Latvia currently cannot raise rail infrastructure fees for Russian grain transit by 300% or ban it outright. He said he realised this after a government meeting, although he had recently criticised “LatRailNet” for being slow to set significantly higher tariffs.

Transit volumes

Data from the State Revenue Service show that grain transit from Russia through Latvia in the first ten months of this year grew 3.1 times compared with the same period in 2025, from 357,645 tonnes to 1.115 million tonnes. Grain transported in transit from Belarus over ten months this year totalled 185,756 tonnes, versus 60.8 tonnes a year earlier.