A global manufacturer and supplier of a variety of food products under the Vici brand, the Lithuanian company Viciunai Group is included in the list of International War Sponsors. This is reported by the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAPC), which maintains this list.
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Feeding the aggressor
“After the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, representatives of the Viciunai Group promised that the company would leave the Russian market, but Vici did not stop its facilities in Russia, was looking for new workers and paying significant taxes to the aggressor’s budget,” NAPC explained.
It is noted that back in March 2022, the head of the Lithuanian group Sarūnas Matijošatis said that the company would leave the Russian market within 3-4 months.
At the same time, Viciunai is still conducting its business in Russia as usual without any reductions, successfully defending the Russian trademark in court, and continues to recruit staff for its subsidiaries, supporting the labor market in Russia.
For example, the production complex of Viciunai-Rus LLC is the largest enterprise of the Viciunai Group, employing 1,500 workers. It is located in the Kaliningrad region, and its net profit for 2022 increased by 156% (up to $20 million).
Viciunai subsidiary BaltCo LLC, being the official representative of the company in Russia, provides services there for transportation of fish culinary products, fish processing, surimi and seafood. Its net profit for 2022 was $2.5 million. USA.
“While such well-known brands as Vici continue to be on the Russian market, despite all the war crimes of the aggressor, the world receives the wrong signal that Russia remains part of international economic processes. So, the residents of Russia see that the democratic world has not turned its back on them, but that they are doing everything right,” said the head of NAPC Alexander Novikov.
- Sanctions
