When the European Union restricted the export of air conditioners to aggressor countries, Vilpra trade with Kyrgyzstan increased. From September 2022 until March 2023, the company exported air conditioning equipment to Kyrgyzstan worth around EUR 940,000. Lithuania has indicated to have exported air conditioners for over EUR 2.3 million and Vilpra accounted for 40% of this amount.
Yet Kyrgyzstan reported to the United Nations statistics agency UN Comtrade to have imported air conditioners from Lithuania for just USD 370,000. This is by six times below the amount of export declared by Lithuania and just slightly over a third of Vilpra’s exports volume.
Data collected by Siena show that Vilpra supplied air conditioning equipment for two Kyrgyzstan’s companies – Mavic Expert and Service Pack LCD. Both of them are registered in Bishkek but under non-existent addresses. Mavic Expert address is on the 13th floor of a building that has only 8 floors. Whereas Service Pack LCD is registered in a modern business centre that has not been built yet.
Journalists have found traces of these companies in Belarus. Belarusian journalist team Bureau recently published a report on how luxurious European cars are exported through Belarus to Russia. The company Custom Service was mentioned as a major car supplier to the Russian market. A public document published by this company shows that Mavic Expert and Service Pack LCD were two out of three major suppliers for Custom Service in 2022.
Moreover, leaked documents seen by journalists from the centre Siena suggest that Vilpra’s ties to Kyrgyzstan had wider trade prospects as a contract with Mavic Expert valued USD 2 million was found.
Vilpra is owned by the Vėgėlė family. Its main shareholder is the politician’s father, Algirdas Stasys Vėgėlė, while its CEO is Martynas Vėgėlė, the brother of presidential candidate Ignas Vėgėlė.
The company has categorically denied any involvement in the alleged sanction circumvention scheme.
“We realise that your exceptional attention to our company and a specific group of goods, taking into account the planned time of the publication, is related solely to political processes – the upcoming presidential election,” Martynas Vėgėlė wrote in response to a request for comment by journalist Šarūnas Černiauskas.