Two Belarusians convicted after hiding ties to Russia’s military industry to obtain EU funding

A Lithuanian-registered company obtained €447,000 in European Union funding for satellite-navigation receivers after declaring that it had no links to sanctioned entities. Investigators later found that two Belarusian nationals continued to control the company and maintained connections with Russia’s military industry.

The case, known as “Precision,” involved a project worth more than €1 million. The EU Agency for the Space Programme financed €754,500 of that amount, while the company actually received €447,000. The equipment was designed to use the Galileo satellite-navigation service for agriculture, including controlling farm machinery and supporting farming operations.

To qualify for the funding, the company had to submit documents confirming that it faced no EU restrictions and had no ties to sanctioned entities. After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, the company changed ownership in April 2022. It appointed a Belarusian relative with U.S. citizenship and a Lithuanian citizen as its managers, a move investigators said was intended to circumvent EU restrictions on Belarusian nationals.

Investigators found that the two Belarusians still effectively ran the Lithuanian company while also holding positions at a Russian company that develops and tests satellite-navigation chips for military purposes. One of them had acquired Russian citizenship several years earlier and held shares in other companies directly or indirectly linked to Russia’s and Belarus’s sanctioned military industries. He controlled a majority stake in one of them.

The Vilnius Regional Court fined the son €36,000, later reducing the amount after accounting for 73 days in detention, leaving €2,100 payable. The father received a €34,500 fine, reduced to €22,700 after one day in detention was credited. The company’s final fine amounted to €24,000.