It is being reported that the Swedish authorities have commenced three preliminary investigations into possible Russian sanctions breaches during 2024.
No other information has been made public, but the investigations appear to relate to trade sanctions.
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.
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“.
It has been reported in a country-specific report on Sweden by the Royal United Services Institute that the Swedish customs authorities charged and prosecuted a company for Russian trade sanctions offences, but were unable to secure a conviction.
No further details were provided.
