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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Denmark – 12 criminal investigations for sanctions breaches opened

It is being reported that the Danish authorities have opened a number of investigations into suspected breaches of the EU’s sanctions against Russia and Belarus since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The Police have confirmed via a Freedom of Information request that they have 12 ongoing investigations.

Separately, the Danish Business Authority has confirmed that they have opened 34 investigations since February 2022.

Of those 23 have closed without further action being taken; 3 were reported to the Police and 2 have been reported to other authorities. A total of 6 investigations remain open.

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The opinions expressed on this blog are those of the author and are not to be construed as legal advice.

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