In Lithuania, 11 people were detained on suspicion of violating sanctions against the Russian Federation
In Lithuania, law enforcement officers detained 11 people on suspicion of violating international sanctions against Russia. The Criminal Service of the Customs Department stated that it is a case of “especially audacious” scheme to circumvent restrictions, reports Euronews.
According to the investigation, a complex shadow scheme was developed by a company from Kaunas. Formally, the customer and recipient of the equipment was a company from Portugal, but in fact the cargo was going through Bulgaria to Turkey, and the final destination was to be Russia. It was about water purification installations made from components manufactured in the EU and China. This equipment was intended for enterprises of the Russian oil industry.
The Kaunas company maintained close and constant business contacts with enterprises operating in Russia and participated in projects related to one of the most dynamic petrochemical groups in the world. During the searches, several tons of equipment worth about 2 million euros were seized. Law enforcement officers also detained two trucks with this cargo – one in Kaunas, the other on the way to the Lithuanian-Polish border. Another party was stopped in Bulgaria.
Among the detainees are company managers, as well as drivers, citizens of Moldova and Bulgaria. After the interrogations, everyone was released, and two suspects were given a preventive measure in the form of a restraining order. The operation was carried out in cooperation with the law enforcement agencies of Portugal and Bulgaria under the coordination of Eurojust and Europol. Parallel searches took place in Portugal — at the fictitious company receiving the equipment, as well as in Bulgaria — at the cargo terminal where the products from Kaunas were stored.
The pre-trial investigation into the violation of sanctions continues under the procedural guidance of the Kaunas District Prosecutor’s Office.
