Finland detains a plane flying to Russia on suspicion of sanctions circumvention
Kyiv • UNN
A Lithuanian Beechcraft plane was detained at Helsinki airport on suspicion of circumventing sanctions. The plane was planning an unusual route to Pskov via Helsinki instead of a direct flight from Latvia.
A private jet registered in Lithuania was detained at the Helsinki airport, intending to fly to Russia, but its flight aroused suspicions among the Finnish authorities due to possible sanctions circumvention. UNN reports this with reference to LRT.
On December 4, a Beechcraft private jet arriving from Latvia landed at Helsinki Airport. According to LRT, the landing at the airport was not planned in advance, and the flight route was unusual - Pskov International Airport in Russia. Suspicions were raised not only by the direction of the flight (after all, flying from Latvia directly to Pskov is twice as fast as flying through Helsinki), but also by the aircraft itself, which was registered in Lithuania.
The plane was sold to the new owners through the mediation of civil servant Ritis Dulinskas, and was transported to Russia by another pilot who already had ties to Russian business, Lithuanian Robertas Petkus. Last April, he flew a Beechcraft B24R Sierra from Kaunas Airport to Pskov. This plane was then sold in Moscow for 138 thousand euros, although the sellers claimed that the deal was concluded with a buyer in Kazakhstan.
In March last year, Petkus was involved in another story involving a Cessna 172 aircraft detained in Palanga. As previously reported, the Russians, who bought the plane through intermediaries in Turkey and Italy, tried to deliver it with the help of people working in Lithuania. However, Palanga airport staff responded in time. After the Cessna pilot disappeared, Petkus tried to intervene in the situation. Introducing himself as an employee of the Italian/Russian company MAK Aviation Services, he tried to take the remaining documents and organize a flight from Palanga to Kaunas.
In connection with the detention of the plane in Palanga, law enforcement agencies launched a pre-trial investigation.
These two incidents could have been known in Finland, as customs did not allow the flight to continue and temporarily arrested the Beechcraft B55 Baron, suspecting that it was circumventing European sanctions.
On December 17, the plane was still in Helsinki. Although Finnish officials declined to comment, they did not deny that the Lithuanian plane had been detained.
