Vičiūnai Group, a company co-owned by Kaunas Mayor Visvaldas Matijošaitis, has found a buyer for its factory in Kaliningrad, according to the Russian newspaper Kommersant. The company’s sluggishness in divesting from Russia has attracted a lot of criticism in Lithuania.
According to the newspaper, the Lithuanian group has received permission from the Russian government’s Foreign Investment Control Commission to sell 100 percent of its shares in Vičiūnai-Rus in February 2024.
“The buyer, according to Kommersant’s sources, may be acting in the interests of Unifrost, a large importer of fish and seafood,” the publication said.
The planned sale of the company is also mentioned in the 2023 financial statement of Vičiūnai-Rus.
Vilma Veverskė, head of communications at Vičiūnai Group, did not comment on this information, but did not deny it.
“Vičiūnai Group refrains from commenting while the sale process is ongoing. Until the process is complete, we cannot comment on its details or the process,” she said.
Last week, the Stop Trade with Russia initiative released figures showing that Vičiūnai-Rus had over 183 million euros in revenue in 2023, with profits of 12.8 million. The company is estimated to have paid 23.2 million euros in taxes to the Russian government.
The Vičiūnai factory in Sovetsk produces crab sticks and similar semi-finished products. The main shareholders of Vičiūnai Group are Visvaldas Matijošaitis, who is the mayor of Liuthuania’s second-biggest city Kaunas, and his business partner Liudas Skierus.
Vičiūnai Group has been promising to sell its Russian business since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Matijošaitis has attracted a lot of criticism for failing to divest from Russia. The mayor of Kaunas is facing interpellation, while the entire Vičiūnai Group may be banned from participating in public procurements.
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