The news agency ELTA has learned from the Customs Department that it took note of investigative reporting by public broadcaster LRT and will open a probe to assess information about potential violation of international sanctions.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė told reporters that the Custom Department would examine what had happened and if sanctions were breached.
Meanwhile, several Conservative (TS-LKD) MPs addressed the Prosecutor General’s Office requesting it to launch a pre-trial investigation into the activities of Plungės kooperatinė prekyba, part of Vičiūnai Group.
LRT reported that Plungės kooperatinė prekyba transported goods and technologies classified as high priority items found on the battlefield in Ukraine, which are subject to international sanctions. According to LRT, the Lithuanian company 11 times transported sanctioned goods to Vičiūnai-Rus, a Lithuanian capital food producer in Russia’s Kaliningrad Oblast. Vičiūnai Group admitted that the items had been exported but denied knowledge of sanctions.
Liberal Movement’s MP Eugenijus Gentvilas addressed relevant authorities asking to examine whether the company of Vičiūnai Group had violated EU sanctions.
According to him, Kaunas Mayor Visvaldas Matijošaitis’ food production business in Russia is unacceptable both morally and politically, whereas export of parts for military machinery would constitute a legal violation.