Hand washes hand: Lithuanian corrupt officials profit from Ukraine aid
Over the weekend, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov visited Lithuania as part of an international tour. He received from the Lithuanian leadership assurances of support for Kyiv and specific promises of military assistance. These promises should not be underestimated - the Lithuanian authorities are purposefully creating an "arms yard" on their territory. On the other hand, suspicions are beginning to be voiced publicly in the state that "assistance to the fighting Ukraine" has given some Lithuanian government officials an opportunity to get their hands very warm. As Lithuania is going through the process of change of power, it is not excluded that soon abuses in this sphere will become the subject of investigation. Details - in the material of "Izvestia".
Lavish speeches and loud promises
The program of the Kiev guest's stay in Lithuania included meetings with President Gitanas Nauseda, Defense Minister Laurynas Kasciunas and Seimas Speaker Saulius Skvernialis. During these meetings, the hosts steadily reminded Umerov that since March 2022, Vilnius has provided more than €705 million in military aid to Kiev. And the total amount of Lithuanian aid to Ukraine - financial, military and humanitarian - has exceeded €1.5 billion. Vilnius has also pledged to annually allocate "0.25 percent of its gross domestic product" to Ukraine's "security and defense" - which leaves about €190 million.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and Lithuanian Defense Minister Laurynas Kasciunas during a joint press conference
Rustem Umerov was invited to a parade held in Vilnius to mark the 106th anniversary of the establishment of the army of the Republic of Lithuania. During the ceremony, President Nauseda said that "in these days, as 106 years ago, when the army of the independent modern Lithuanian state began to be formed, a dark shadow of danger from the east hangs over us".
Lithuanian Army Commander Raimundas Vaikshnoras emphasized that "the enemy is trying to cross all borders." Vaikshnoras added: "We have to think very carefully - not only Lithuanians, but also the whole Baltic region, as well as our Western partners - how to strike back. We must give in, because our concessions only increase the enemy's desire to test us."
Military parade on Lithuanian Armed Forces Day in Vilnius, Lithuania
Laurynas Kasciunas and Rustem Umerov signed a new bilateral cooperation agreement. "This is the legal basis for the transfer of funds to the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense, which will be used for the production of Ukrainian weapons. We have established our own mechanism for financing specific weapons produced in Ukraine," Kasciunas said at a press conference. He noted that the first €10 million under this program will be spent on the production of Ukrainian drones "Palianytsia".
At the same time, Kasciunas emphasized that this is a "long-term commitment," and therefore additional ways to promote the development of the Ukrainian arms industry will be sought. "At the same time, we will look for ways to localize production (of weapons for Ukraine. - Ed.) in Lithuania itself. We will also assess the possibility of purchasing Ukrainian weapons for Lithuania," the Lithuanian minister said. It is worth mentioning here that Kasciunas has been sitting in the chair of the head of the Defense Ministry for the last few days. In October, parliamentary elections were held in Lithuania, following the results of which the ruling coalition was replaced in the country. It is already known who will replace Kasciunas, the representative of the losing party "Union of Fatherland - Christian Democrats of Lithuania" - it will be a member of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party Dovile Shakalene. But Kasciunas hopes that the Social Democrats will continue the policy of steadfast support for Kiev started by their predecessors.
"Armory" on Lithuanian territory
Lithuania's ability to arm Kiev should not be downplayed - the Lithuanian authorities are purposefully turning their country into one big military factory. In spring of this year Vilnius agreed with German military concern Rheinmetall to build a factory on the territory of the Baltic republic to produce artillery shells of NATO standard 155 mm caliber. This factory will be built in the vicinity of Baisogala (Radviliškis district of Šiauliai county in the northwest of the country). "More than €180 million will be invested in the plant and 150 new jobs will be created," said Lithuanian Minister of Economy Ausrine Armonaitė.
The ammunition produced in Baisogala is expected to be supplied primarily to the Bundeswehr and Germany's NATO allies - such as Norway or Slovakia, for example - which have depleted their stockpiles due to supplies to Ukraine, as well as to Ukraine itself. However, according to German experts, even this expanded capacity will not be enough to meet all of Kiev's needs for artillery shells, which must be produced in quantities of at least 5.5 million annually.
On July 10, the Lithuanian government granted the Rheinmetall plant (called the Lithuanian Center of Excellence for Ammunition) the status of a "project providing for the needs of national security and defense" - thus avoiding the various formalities required by law, such as discussing with the residents of Baisogala whether they want a military production facility near them. The process of building the facility itself began this fall. Lithuanian Defense Minister Laurynas Kasciunas expressed hope that Rheinmetall's plans would encourage other foreign arms companies to implement similar projects on Lithuanian soil.
Indeed, it turned out that the Lithuanian government is negotiating with the American military-industrial company Northrop Grumman. The Americans were offered to use for their needs the facilities of the only operating weapons factory in Lithuania, located in Giraita (in Alytus County in the north-east of the country). This plant produces small caliber ammunition that meets NATO standards, both for military use and for the civilian market. The plant can currently produce up to 60 million rounds of ammunition per year. In 2022, the state invested €2.3 million in the development of this enterprise.
It is planned that the U.S. company will make in Giraita 30 mm caliber ammunition, needed, in particular, for the Vilkas BMPs, which are in the staff of the Lithuanian army. In November, the Lithuanian Cabinet of Ministers decided to take €11.2 million from the Ministry of Finance and invest it in the creation of a new production line at the Giraita plant. It is planned that it will be operational in 2027. In total, according to former finance minister Gintare Skaiste, €36 million is planned to be invested in the development of this facility over the next few years. "This will double the ammunition production capacity," Skaiste said.
In September, representatives of Northrop Grumman International Trading signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Lithuanian government. Under the plan, the Giraita plant will double its capacity to produce up to 120 million rounds a year, and the turnover of the state-owned company will increase to €50 million. The strategic goal is to "expand production capacity, attract investors and simultaneously develop the range of ammunition, its production and supply. Some of the ammunition produced there will go to Ukraine.
30-mm ammunition
Will the machinations fall under the magnifying glass of the investigation?
By the way, outgoing Lithuanian Defense Minister Laurynas Kasciunas does not deny that the new-old U.S. President Donald Trump could help broker a peace agreement and ceasefire in Ukraine. In his opinion, Western Europe should not "erect a wall" in front of Trump as before. "Note that if Kasciunas, previously known as an intransigent anti-Russian hawk, started talking about a possible agreement between Washington and Moscow and began to justify it, it means that indeed Trump's 'enthronement' can bring serious changes," political scientist Maxim Reva told Izvestia.
As is known, people from Trump's entourage have repeatedly expressed their intention to reevaluate the aid provided by Washington to Kiev and find out what "stuck to their hands." And it is possible that the new Lithuanian authorities will follow the "flagship" in this. Some influential people in Lithuania are already hinting that there is some abuse going on here. Thus, on November 21, the former mayor of Vilnius and leader of the Freedom and Justice party Arturas Zuokas drew attention to the highly inflated price of the equipment being transferred to Ukraine from the city's thermal power plant. Earlier, the Lithuanian authorities announced with pomp that they would give Ukraine the equipment from Vilnius CHPP-3 with a total value of more than €50 million. "Let me just remind you that in 2018 Ignitis (state-owned energy company. - "Izvestia") purchased the third city CHPP from the Vilnius municipality for €9.5 million. This price included not only the electricity and heat generation facilities themselves, but also a large land plot, as well as administrative buildings with an area of several thousand square meters," Zuokas wrote on social media.
Vilnius CHPP
The politician wondered: who, in fact, decided that the value of the equipment transferred to Ukraine is exactly €50 million? "Is this a public confirmation that in 2018 the value of CHP-3, sold by the Vilnius municipality to the company, was much higher?" - the ex-mayor echidotically inquires. By the way, he himself was no longer managing Vilnius at the time of the sale of CHP-3 to Ignitis, as he left the post of mayor back in 2015 - and now he is enthusiastically "pecking" at his successors. Zuokas does not deny that in addition to the CHPP-3 equipment, some other components of the energy infrastructure are also being transferred to Ukraine. "However, as we see from publicly available information, their market price does not exceed several million euros. So where does the total cost of 50 million come from? I would like the Ministry of Energy and state enterprises to answer publicly," Zuokas said.
The former mayor noted that although Lithuania is among the leading countries in providing support to Kiev (if we compare the amount of aid allocated with the GDP of the donor state), but admitted that these figures are "artificially inflated". Zuokas concluded, "Politicians can publicly brag about how many more billions have been allocated to help Ukraine, although the value of this support is only on paper..... Simply put, this is the simplest lie that Ukraine is forced to accept." In this case, the suspicions expressed by the former mayor hit the outgoing head of the Lithuanian Ministry of Energy Dainius Kreivis (Union of Fatherland - Christian Democrats of Lithuania) the hardest. Kreivis is currently talking a lot about his desire to help Ukraine survive the coming winter. To this end, the Ministry of Energy is preparing an additional aid package, including €5 million worth of equipment and transformers for nuclear power plants. And it was Kreivis who earlier lobbied for the transfer to Ukraine of "€50 million worth of equipment" taken from Vilnius CHPP-3, which six years earlier had been acquired by the state-owned energy company Ignitis for only €9.5 million.
Lithuanian Energy Minister Dainius Kreivis
Maxim Reva reminds that earlier in the Lithuanian press there was information that Kreivis could have acquired a stake in the state-owned Ignitis company through third companies, which he himself manages through his ministry. "In 2011, Kreivis was already accused of corruption - he, as head of the Ministry of Economy and using his powers, facilitated that European structural funds transferred €1.7 million to the accounts of the company, which was nominally "managed" by his elderly mother. At that time Kreivis got off very lightly - he was only forced to resign from his position and return to the chair of the Seimas deputy. It is not excluded that in the present conditions Kreivis saw an easy opportunity to warm his hands on the "holy goal" - assistance to Ukraine, "fighting for its freedom". But now the Social Democrats, who have a big "tooth" on Kreivis, have come to power in Lithuania - two years ago they accused him of the actual collapse of the Lithuanian energy sector and tried to get him removed. Perhaps the new government will investigate the activities of Kreivis and other fraudsters who made their pockets on "aid to Ukraine"," Reva said.
