Lithuanian companies delivered 130 million euros worth of weapons production goods to Russia to circumvent sanctions - media
Kyiv • UNN
Lithuanian companies exported dual-use goods to Russia worth at least 130 million euros between March 2022 and August 2023.
Several Lithuanian companies delivered approximately 130 million euros worth of weapons production goods to Russia under the guise of exports to third countries. One of these companies previously cooperated with the Lithuanian Armed Forces and Border Guard Service. This was reported by the public broadcaster LRT, according to UNN.
Under the guise of exports to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Armenia and other states close to the Kremlin, Lithuanian companies shipped Western-made goods with potential military use between March 2022 and August 2023, until Lithuania banned the transit of certain goods to third countries.
Lithuanian companies exported dual-use goods to Russia worth at least 130 million euros using sanctions circumvention schemes. In particular, microcircuits, bearings, antennas, capacitors, radio navigation devices, semiconductors and other dual-use goods.
Reportedly, 70 companies have exported sanctioned goods on multiple occasions. One of them, the Klaipeda-based transportation company Zetemzeja, allegedly shipped microchips made in the United States.
Also, according to LRT, the logistics company Delamode Baltics, which in the past has provided services to the Lithuanian Armed Forces, the State Border Guard Service and the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant, may have acted as an intermediary in at least 10 shipments of dual-use goods to Russia. Delamode Baltics may have transported bearings, electronics, processors and other equipment through Georgia, which the company denies.
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Oleksandr Ruvin, Director of Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise, previously reported that as a result of cooperation between the institution's experts and foreign media, three people were arrested in the Netherlands who were supplying goods for military needs to Russia in circumvention of sanctions.
"We are sincerely grateful to the international investigators whose professional activities help to block Russian routes of illegal supply of foreign microelectronics to equip enemy missiles and drones. Among the latter, we have a successful case of cooperation with journalists from the Netherlands. Their investigation led to the arrest of three people as part of a multinational investigation into an international smuggling network that was working to circumvent European sanctions against Russia. Such small local steps help to increase the effectiveness of sanctions pressure on the aggressor country," Ruvin said.
