Sweden, Estonia and Lithuania: investigations opened into funding provided by Russian designated person

Further to our earlier post regarding an investigation in Latvia into the activities of the designated Russian state entity “Pravfond”, it has now been reported that a number of other investigations are ongoing in relation to this entity’s activities:

1) An investigation has been commenced in Sweden in relation to a school that had associations with Pravfond;

2) In Estonia a multiple investigations (by the criminal authorities and the bar association) have been opened in relation to lawyers who accepted funds from Pravfond; and

3) In Lithuania a criminal investigation has been opened (as well as one by the bar association) into lawyers who took funds from Pravfond.

    Sweden – companies called to Foreign Ministry to explain possible circumvention

    It is being reported (e.g. here and here) that a number of large Swedish companies have been called to the Foreign Ministry to attend a meeting also attended by a number of other authorities.

    The meeting concerned information received by Sweden from the European Commission about exports to Russia which may have been in breach of, or circumvented, the EU’s sanctions.

    The companies called to attend the meeting included Atlas Copco, Ericsson, Volvo, SKF and Sandvik.

    The companies deny breaches of sanctions.

    The Swedish authorities are now considering what further action to take.

    Latvia – investigation into bunkering vessel refueling Russian “shadow fleet”

    A vessel owned by a Latvian company is providing bunkering (i.e. refueling) services to the Russian “shadow fleet” in the Baltic sea off the coast of Gotland in Sweden.

    A spokesman for the Latvian Foreign Ministry has stated that an investigation is now underway to see if the Latvian company is breaching or circumventing EU sanctions, in particular whether the fuel being supplied is of Russian origin.

    The Latvian company, Fastbunkering, denies breaching sanctions.

    It is noteworthy that just two days ago the Swedish authorities were reported as having closed an investigation into these same possible breaches of sanctions.

    A Swedish prosecutor was reported as having stated: “I have made the assessment that it is not worth requesting legal aid from Latvia because it is not expected to lead to a higher penalty than a fine“.

    © 2009-2025 Duane Morris LLP. Duane Morris is a registered service mark of Duane Morris LLP.

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

    Proudly powered by WordPress