Business people in the Kaliningrad region remain optimistic about the current economic situation, saying they are well prepared amid the imposition of European Union sanctions on the transit trade between Russia and its enclave of Kaliningrad. Earlier this month, Lithuania announced a ban on the rail transit of goods subject to EU sanctions through its territory to Kaliningrad.

Representatives of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry have projected that all sectors of Kaliningrad's economy will suffer due to the restrictions. Before the ban, almost all local entrepreneurs in Kaliningrad depended on supplies from abroad or the central part of Lithuania.