Lithuania’s governmental commission, which examines the transactions of strategic companies, is investigating Russia links of Viada and Baltic Petroleum petrol chains.
According to Neringa Andrijauskiene, head of the Central Purchasing Organisation (CPO), the screening of suppliers started in April, in line with the amendments to the Public Procurement Law, which said that suppliers and sub-suppliers could be rejected if their managers were permanent residents or citizens of “hostile countries” that included Russia and Belarus.
“The most complicated and time-consuming part of the process is the verification of fuel suppliers that are in CPO’s electronic catalogue,” Andrijauskiene said, referring to the suppliers of Viada and Baltic Petroleum.
The Viada petrol station chain is owned by Ivan Paleichik’s family business Vaizga. Baltic Petroleum is managed by Paleichik’s son Andrius.
Until 2016, Paleichik was head of Lukoil Baltija, a chain of petrol stations owned by the Russian oil giant Lukoil.
In spring 2016, Lukoil Baltija was taken over by Austria’s Amic Energy Management. The latter took over the management of around 230 petrol stations in Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland. The management of these petrol stations in Lithuania and Latvia was taken over by Luktarna and Viada Baltija, related to Paleichik. (LRT/Business World Magazine)