Viciunu Grupe (Viciunai Group), controlled by Kaunas Mayor Visvaldas Matijosaitis and Liudas Skierius, says it has found five potential buyers for its Russian business. The group, however, refrained to estimate how long it would take to sell and transfer the business.
On August 19, the company said that EY (Ernst & Young) experts had drawn up a shortlist of five potential buyers, adding that the process “took longer than planned due to thorough checks on the final beneficiary”.
“The business consultants refrain to speculate how long the process will take before the final sale contract is signed. To speed up the process, Viciunu Grupe’s lawyers have already prepared a template for the sale agreement, and it will be used for negotiations with the selected final buyer,” the company says.
In early April, Sarunas Matijosaitis, the group’s CEO, said the company planned to make its final exit from the Russian market within three to four months.
According to the group, potential buyers are interested in purchasing the entire business infrastructure.
“We are holding negotiations not only for the existing production facility but also for the existing business contacts, brands and the existing workforce structure. Given the circumstances of the sale process and as we respect the wishes of the parties involved, candidates will not be named,” the group said.
Viciunu Grupe assures that all products offered for sale in Lithuania or Ukraine are made at production facilities within the EU, adding that the Kaliningrad factory supplies Eastern markets.
The Siena centre for investigative journalism reported earlier that the Kaliningrad-based business of Viciunu Grupe received around 13.77 million euros in subsidies from the Russian government last year.
The group’s Kaliningrad factory was also awarded the Russian Quality Label for its crabmeat and crabsticks. (LRT/Business World Magazine)