Two Belarusians with ties to the Russian military industry pleaded guilty in Lithuania
The company controlled by Belarusians joined a project of the European Union Agency for the Space Programme, writes LRT with reference to the Financial Crime Investigation Service of Lithuania. This prompted attention and an investigation into them.
The Vilnius District Court found two Belarusian citizens guilty of fraud involving European funding. Through a company in Lithuania, they received 447 thousand euros for the development of high-precision satellite navigation, but concealed their ties to a sanctioned Russian company that created and tested navigation chips for military needs.
The company controlled by Belarusians joined a project of the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA). Its goal was to develop receivers that use the high-precision signal of the European satellite system Galileo.
Such devices were planned to be used in agriculture — for example, for precise control of tractors and other machinery. The total budget of the project exceeded one million euros. EUSPA agreed to finance more than 745 thousand euros, of which the Lithuanian company managed to receive 447,272 euros.
To receive the money, the company declared that it was not connected to sanctioned individuals or organizations and that EU restrictions did not apply to it.
However, the investigation revealed that two Belarusians remained the de facto controllers of the enterprise. After the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, their relative, who holds US and Lithuanian citizenship, was made the formal head of the company. According to the investigation, this was an attempt to circumvent EU restrictions imposed on Belarusian citizens.
It also emerged that both held leadership positions in a Russian company that fell under EU sanctions. It was involved in the development and testing of satellite navigation chips for military use. One of the convicted individuals also obtained Russian citizenship in 2020-2021.
Thus, the case concerned not only the illegal receipt of European money. By submitting false information, individuals connected to the Russian military industry gained access to funding, the EU market, and spatial geodata. However, the investigation does not claim that the developments or data were transferred to Russia.
Both Belarusians pleaded guilty and fully compensated for the damages — 447,272 euros. The specific punishment imposed by the court is not specified in the report.
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