Following prominent reporting in Lithuania (e.g. here), the Lithuanian Customs Department has confirmed that it has commenced an investigation into the alleged activities of the company UAB Vilpra.
It is alleged that the company exported nearly €1m in air conditioning units to Belarus via Kyrgyzstan in breach of the EU’s sanctions.
The company is reported to deny the allegations and to have stated that it complies with all sanctions.
It has been reported today that the Polish Interior Ministry has confirmed an investigation into the alleged importation of timber from Belarus.
The allegations include that the timber was accompanied by forged documentation purporting to show a Kazakhstan origin for the timber.
Other investigations into alleged imports of timber from Russia or Belarus in breach of EU sanctions are underway in:
This blog has been live now for just over two months.
During that time and by way of recap, a number of states have provided updated enforcement statistics in that period (Finland, Switzerland, Latvia), but the period has also seen a significant volume of new enforcement activity:
Continue reading “European sanctions enforcement: the last two months”
The Director of the Customs Administration within the Latvian State Revenue Service (VID) has been reported as saying that a total of 7,789 violations of sanctions imposed on Russia and Belarus were detected during 2023.
It is unclear what the Customs Administration did with these detected breaches, and whether those involved were investigated, charged or prosecuted.
We have previously reported that Latvia has, to date, commenced 310 criminal prosecutions and obtained a total of 7 convictions for sanctions offences.
The German company Hörmann, which manufactures garages doors, gates and other products, is reported to be under investigation by the Public Prosecutor’s office in Germany. Also being investigated are the Hörmann subsidiaries Alutech Group based in Minsk and Eluteck Investments Limited based in Cyprus.
The company is reported to have denied the allegations which were first by WirtschaftsWoche in January 2024.
The allegations relate to the alleged importation of sanctioned goods from Belarus via Russia for the time when the products in question were prohibited from Belarus but were not prohibited imports from Russia.
Comments by a United Nations rapporteur have revealed an ongoing criminal investigation into imports of timber products from Belarus allegedly in breach of EU sanctions.
The case was referred to prosecutors by the German customs authorities and raids were conducted in March 2023, and further investigatory steps have taken place this month.
The individual charged is Alena Bekker and the importing company was Texforum-Interhandel e.K.
Both appear to deny the allegations in part on the basis that the imports were done in accordance with grand-fathering provisions when the Belarus timber ban was introduced.
The Latvian authorities have provided a further update to their enforcement efforts. As reported:
Of the convictions, all involved guilty pleas and all involved Latvian nationals. The highest penalty related to the export of a luxury car, and the fine was €170,000.
The conduct prosecuted included in relation to the sale of a professional footballer to a club owned by a company designated under Belarus sanctions, and the provision of content to the Russian Federal News Agency.
UPDATE: It has now (18 March 2024) been reported that the fine imposed in relation to providing economic resources to the Russian news agency in the form of employment services, was €15,500.
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.
The Danish FSA has issued a press release stating that an investigation it commenced into Nets Danmark A/S, has not resulted in a need for any further regulatory action to be taken.
The investigation was commenced in May 2023 and related to compliance with EU sanctions in general and Russian and Belarusian sanctions in particular.
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.
