I-Photonics, a company linked to the Belarusian group Izovac that supplies products to Russia’s military industry, is operating in Vilnius, 15min.lt reports.
Izovac Photonics was established in the Lithuanian capital in 2021 to support the parent company Izovac’s expansion into Europe.
According to the Belarusian Research Center, Izovac has supplied nearly 200 million dollars (176 million euros) worth of products to Russia’s military industry since the start of the war in Ukraine, circumventing sanctions.
Izovac’s vacuum coating technology is used in microchip components, night vision devices, thermal imagers, optical sights, missile guidance systems, drones, and other military equipment.
In 2022, Izovac Photonics changed its name to I-Photonics after authorities froze 1.2 million euros in the company’s funds due to the origin of the money.
According to 15min.lt, the funds were transferred as a loan by Moscow-based Izovac Engineering on the first day of the war in Ukraine.
The Russian company had received the money from Polyus, a research institute controlled by Russia’s defence giant Rostec. The funds were frozen due to sanctions against the state-owned corporation and its CEO, Sergei Chemezov.
Despite the frozen loan, I-Photonics opened a factory in Vilnius and expanded into Western markets. According to 15min.lt, the company reported 5 million euros in revenue and nearly 700,000 euros in profit in 2023.
I-Photonics CEO Vitali Khomich told 15min.lt that the Vilnius-based company had had no ties to the Belarusian group since the start of the war in Ukraine.
However, the website noted that Izovac Photonics shares a logo, website, and IP address with Izovac, and that various technologies were patented in Lithuania by the Belarusian group.
I-Photonics’ shareholders – Yevgeny Shiripov, Andrey Levchuk, and Yevgeny Khokhlov – are the sons of three Izovac co-founders. They currently live in Lithuania.
According to the Belarusian Research Center, both the company’s CEO, Khomich, and its shareholders worked at Belarus’ Izovac until the end of 2024.
The company’s representatives deny this, saying that all ties with Izovac were cut in 2022 and that Khomich moved to Lithuania back in 2021. Before that, he had been responsible for expanding Izovac’s business in Western markets.
According to 15min.lt, the Financial Crime Investigation Service has expressed doubts about whether the company truly severed ties with Izovac.
While reviewing residence permit requests from the Belarusian businessmen previously closely linked to Izovac, the Migration Department flagged the 2022 loan from Russia as a possible link to sanctioned individuals.
However, the State Security Department concluded that the foreign nationals posed no threat to national security, and the residence permits were granted.
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