Lithuanian fuel network Jozita and Russian-backed company Gazimpeks allegedly exported thousands of tons of Russian liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to Ukraine using inaccurate or falsified certificates from Lithuania’s Orlen Lietuva refinery, according to an investigation by the journalistic research centre Siena.
The report says the Lithuanian companies purchased small amounts of LPG produced at Orlen Lietuva and obtained certificates verifying its origin. The certificates were then reportedly used to export much larger volumes to Ukraine.
Orlen Lietuva confirmed to investigators that it was aware of the certificates being used to circumvent Ukraine’s sanctions on Russian fuel. The company said it provided full information to Ukrainian customs so the documents could be verified and the actual cargo origins determined.
Ukrainian court decisions cited in the investigation indicate that data from Orlen Lietuva raises doubts about the origin of LPG exported by Jozita and Gazimpeks. In some cases, courts suspected that European LPG was “diluted” with Russian fuel, mixing locally produced products with Russian LPG. Some certificates covering 20 tons of LPG were reportedly used for shipments more than 50 times that amount.
The investigation notes that under Ukrainian law, the origin of “diluted” European gas does not need to be changed when mixed with Russian LPG, creating a loophole that allowed companies to bypass import bans even after sanctions on Russian fuel were enacted.
Representatives of Jozita and Gazimpeks told Siena they had not violated Lithuanian law or Ukrainian sanctions.
Gazimpeks is linked to the Russian energy sector: from 2021 to July 2024, the company was led by Nikolai Yeliseev, a Russian citizen and former head of Rosneft, Russia’s second-largest state-owned energy company, which is under EU and US sanctions.
The company’s owner, Oksana Yeliseeva, received Lithuanian citizenship in 2021 after reportedly providing false information about renouncing Russian citizenship. According to the investigation, she later continued to use a Russian passport for international travel.
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