Latvian court fines businessman for attempting to violate EU sanctions against Russia

The Riga City Court in Latvia fined a businessman EUR 10,140 for attempting to violate sanctions imposed by the European Union against Russia.

According to Ukrinform, Delfi stated this in an article.

The penalty was agreed upon between the prosecutor and the defendant and later approved by the court.

The prosecutor also concluded agreements on coercive measures: the company that was meant to benefit from the sanctions violation attempt was liquidated; another company, whose insufficient oversight enabled the offense, was fined EUR 17,940.

Read also: Baltic states ask Ukraine to help reduce tensions over Russian threats, says Sybiha

The accused is a board member of one of the companies. Acting on behalf of a firm registered in Russia, he attempted to export Buchholz gas relays and control relays used to protect transformers, with a total value of EUR 161,352.

In January 2023, the defendant contacted a customs brokerage company to arrange export procedures for the equipment.

The company accepted the order and submitted an export declaration to the customs office at the Riga Free Port without verifying whether the relays were subject to sanctions.

As Ukrinform reported, since 2022, more than 600 criminal cases related to violations of sanctions against the Russian Federation have been opened in Latvia.