Lithuania uncovered "particularly audacious" scheme to circumvent sanctions against russia. 11 people detained

Lithuania has detained 11 people suspected of violating the international sanctions regime against the aggressor country, russia. This was reported by the Euronews portal, citing data from the Criminal Service of the Customs Department of the country.

The agency said that it had uncovered a "particularly audacious scheme to circumvent international sanctions against russia".

It was noted that the operation was carried out in cooperation with law enforcement agencies in Portugal and Bulgaria, as well as in coordination with Eurojust and Europol.

The investigation showed that a company from Kaunas (a city in Lithuania) had developed a complex shadow scheme to supply water purification equipment to the aggressor country, the russian federation, intended for use by russian oil industry enterprises.

The formal customer and recipient of the goods from the Kaunas company was a company from Portugal. However, in fact, the goods were transported to Bulgaria, from where they were to be delivered to Turkey and then to russia.

"The water purification equipment was designed, assembled and manufactured from components manufactured in the EU and China. This equipment was intended for specific industrial facilities in russia. The Kaunas company itself, which has close and permanent ties with business entities operating in russia, actively participated in projects implemented in russia. One of these projects is associated with a russian group of companies, which is among the fastest growing petrochemical companies in the world," the Criminal Service of the Lithuanian Customs Department said in an official statement.

11 employees of the Kaunas company were detained, including its managers, as well as drivers who are citizens of Moldova and Bulgaria. Several tons of equipment worth about EUR 2 million were seized during the search. Two trucks with the aforementioned equipment were also detained: one in Kaunas, the other on the way to the Lithuanian-Polish border. The third batch was detained in Bulgaria.

After interrogation, the suspects were released, two of them were given a restraining order - a recognizance not to leave the country.

In cooperation with the Portuguese and Bulgarian police, searches were also conducted in these countries. In Portugal - at the fictitious recipient of the filtering equipment, and in Bulgaria - at the cargo terminal - a warehouse where the products of the Kaunas company are stored.

The pre-trial investigation into the violation of international sanctions, conducted by the Kaunas Regional Prosecutor's Office, is ongoing.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, recently the head of European diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, stated that the European Union will continue to impose sanctions aimed at the military economy of the aggressor country, russia. A new package of restrictions should be ready by September.