Belarus – Page 3 – European Sanctions Enforcement

January 25, 2024 by Mark Handley

Latvia – announcement of 258 ongoing criminal prosecutions

In an earlier post we reported that the Latvian authorities had 14 ongoing criminal prosecutions.

This morning, Raimonds Zukuls of the Latvian State Revenue Service has given an interview announcing that 114 criminal cases were opened during 2022 and a further 144 cases were opened during 2023.

These cases all concern the EU’s Russian and Belarusian sanctions. It was also said that most cases relate to electrical goods, car parts, luxury goods, timber products, fuel, fodder and metal products.

It was also stated that over 5,000 imports/exports had been stopped by the State Revenue Service.

September 26, 2023January 11, 2024 by Mark Handley

Netherlands announce 55 ongoing criminal investigations

The Dutch have announced that the Public Prosecution Service is currently undertaking 55 criminal investigations into suspected breaches of Russian and Belarusian sanctions.

Little information on the breaches is available, but the authorities have stated that roughly two thirds relate to breaches of trade sanctions, and one third to financial sanctions.

As of December the number was at 27, meaning 28 have been added during 2023 to date.

September 18, 2023February 27, 2024 by Mark Handley

Latvia – two prosecutions for Russian and Belarusian sanctions breaches

The Latvian State Security Service (VDD) has announced that it has forwarded a case to the Prosecution Service for the initiation of criminal proceedings relating to the export of luxury goods to Russian in breach of EU sanctions.

The luxury good in question was a car.

In another announcement today, the VDD has announced the referral of another case for prosecution relating to the import of iron and steel products from Belarus in breach of EU sanctions.

September 12, 2023January 11, 2024 by Mark Handley

Latvian enforcement: 14 ongoing criminal prosecutions

In response to questions about Russian sanctions enforcement the Latvian authorities have confirmed that they have 14 ongoing criminal prosecutions of which three relate to exports, including circumvention of sanctions by routing exports through China and central Asia, and the others to breaches of financial sanctions.

The Latvian authorities also stated they received 281 suspicious activity reports during 2022 in relation to Russian sanctions, and had received 309 so far in 2023.

May 29, 2023March 19, 2024 by Mark Handley

Lithuanian authorities commence criminal investigations into 9 companies and 95 investigations

It was reported today, that the Lithuanian State Consumer Rights Protection Authority has undertaken investigations into 95 Lithuanian companies on suspicion of importing Russian timber products in breach of current Russian and Belarusian sanctions.

The allegation is that the goods were being mislabelled as being of Kazakhstan or Kyrgyzstan origin.

Of those companies investigated nine have now been reported to prosecutors.

April 24, 2023February 27, 2024 by Mark Handley

Latvia – conviction and fine for imports in breach of Belarus sanctions

The Latvian State Prosecution Service has announced a conviction of a man for importing 13 packages of wooden sleepers and 8kg of nails from Belarus in breach of the EU’s sanctions.

The fine imposed was €6,200. As part of the sentencing the man was prohibited from importing any goods from Belarus for a year.

A co-accused was earlier sentenced to pay a fine of €5,000.

March 14, 2023January 11, 2024 by Mark Handley

Switzerland – nearly 100 criminal investigations for sanctions breaches

The Swiss authorities have this week provided some statistics on their ongoing sanctions enforcement efforts.

They have reported a total of 100 investigations. Of those:

- - 13 investigations have been concluded without charge;
  - 23 have had criminal proceedings commenced; and
  - 60 cases remain under investigation.

While most of these relate to Russia, at least two relate to Belarus sanctions.

The majority of the investigations are said to relate to trade sanctions rather than financial sanctions.

February 26, 2023January 11, 2024 by Mark Handley

Lithuania – investigation into breach of Belarus sanctions

The Lithuanian authorities are investigating allegations of the import of urea from the Belarus company Grodno Azot (designated under Belarus sanctions).

Searches have been conducted at a number of locations and 3000 tonnes of urea has been seized valued at several million euros.

The imports are alleged to have been conducted by two companies and involved the relabelling of the product as if it had been produced by another supplier and not Grodno Azot.

December 7, 2022February 27, 2024 by Mark Handley

Latvia – conviction for imports from Belarus

The Latvian authorities have announced the conviction of a man on charges of importing goods from Belarus in breach of the EU’s sanctions.

The goods in question were railway sleepers and 8kg of nails.

The fine imposed was €5,000. No custodial sentence was imposed, but the man was banned from conducting any import business from Belarus for a year.