(MENAFN- UkrinForm) The National Agency for Corruption Prevention (NACP) has added the seafood producer and supplier Viciunai Group, known as Vici, to the list of international sponsors of war.
According to Ukrinform, this was reported by the NACP.
"After the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, representatives of the Viciunai Group promised that the company would leave the Russian market, but Vici does not stop its facilities in Russia, is looking for new employees and pays significant taxes to the aggressor's budget. This was the basis for the NACP to include Viciunai Group in the list of international sponsors of Russia's war," the statement said.
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The NACP noted that the company is a global producer and supplier of various food products. In addition to being the largest surimi processor on the planet, Viciunai Group is also one of the largest and most economically powerful seafood producers in Europe. It is headquartered in Lithuania and has plants in Lithuania, Spain, Estonia, and Russia.
"Back in March 2022, after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the head of the Lithuanian group, Šarūnas Matijošaitis, said that the company would leave the Russian market within 3-4 months. Instead, it became known that Viciunai does not stop its work in the Russian Federation and remains one of the most favorite brands of Russian consumers," the NACP said.
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Viciunai is conducting business in Russia as usual without any layoffs, successfully defending its Russian trademark in court, and continues to recruit staff for its subsidiaries, supporting the labor market in Russia.
For example, the NACP noted that the production complex of Viciunai Rus LLC is the largest enterprise of the Viciunai Group, employing 1,500 people. It is located in the Kaliningrad region, and its net profit in 2022 increased by 156% (to $20 million).
Viciunai's subsidiary BaltCo LLC, as the company's official representative in Russia, provides transportation services for fish cooking, fish processing, surimi and seafood products. Its net profit for 2022 was $2.5 million.
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"As long as such well-known brands as Vici continue to be on the Russian market, despite all the aggressor's war crimes, the world is getting the wrong signal that Russia remains part of international economic processes. In the same way, Russians see that the democratic world has not turned its back on them, and they are doing the right thing. Many companies have already made the right choice in favor of the values of democracy and integrity by leaving the Russian market. However, Viciunai Group was not one of them and failed to go beyond its empty promises," NACP Chairman Oleksandr Novikov said.
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The NACP emphasized that repeated statements about the termination of business and the sale of production in Russia did not affect the work of the Viciunai Group in Russia. The company continues to sponsor the war against Ukraine by paying large amounts of taxes to the budget of Putin's war machine.
As Ukrinform reported, the NACP had added Shandong Odes Industry Co., a leading Chinese manufacturer of all-terrain vehicles, to the list of international sponsors of the war.
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