15min sources reported that the news of the closure was completely unexpected even for “Mere” employees – the lights were suddenly turned off and they were told to close the stores and vacate the building within 15 minutes.
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According to 15min, “Mere” stores are being closed all over Lithuania. A total of 20 stores operate in the country.
In addition, employees were suddenly paid their salaries for the upcoming month, and they were not informed whether the stores would reopen, sources told the portal.
15min journalists visited two “Mere” stores in Vilnius – on Liepkalnio and Liongino Baliukevičiaus-Dzūko streets. Both were closed, although working hours had not yet ended.
A note hangs on the door of the “Mere” store on Liongino Baliukevičiaus-Dzūko street, stating that the store will not be open due to technical difficulties.
While the 15min journalist was at the store, several customers came to shop and were surprised to find the doors closed. A Latvian citizen told 15min that he wanted to buy a šakotis.
“Why isn’t it working here? I wanted to buy a šakotis. I live very close by, but what can you do, there are other stores, so it’s not a problem for me – I have a car, I’ll go somewhere else,” the man said.
Customers asked to leave
The portal “Kas vyksta Kaune” reported that “Mere” in Kaunas also unexpectedly closed on Friday. A reader of the “Kas vyksta Kaune” portal reported that during shopping, all customers were asked to leave the store because it was closing and would not operate that day. Employees allegedly hinted that other stores in the chain were also closing due to technical circumstances.
15min contacted “Valientė”, the company managing the “Mere” chain, at the specified phone numbers, but did not receive a response – we will update the publication once we receive it.
It appears that the sudden closure of the stores is related to Friday’s news that Russian businessman S. Šnaideris, who owns the “Mere” retail chain operating in Lithuania, has been added to the 21st European Union (EU) sanctions list, reported the Latvian Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), cited by BNS.
The FIU announced that sanctions apply to “Mere” operators – the Latvian company “Latprodukti” and the Latvian branch of the Lithuanian company “Valientė”. The companies must immediately cease operations in compliance with EU sanctions restrictions.
S. Šnaideris was added to the sanctions list because he materially or financially supports actions that violate or threaten Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence, the service reported.
According to it, S. Šnaideris indirectly owns more than 50 percent of the shares of “Latprodukti” and “Valiente” in Latvia.
The LRT portal reported last year that the Spanish company “Vigalight”, which took over “Valientė” shares, belongs to three Russian citizens who were previously the owners of this retail chain. According to it, Spanish registry data shows that 79 percent of “Vigalight” shares, established last year, belong to S. Šnaideris, 15 percent to Andrey Veikulainen, and the remaining 6 percent to Valeriy Yakovlev.
Minister of Economy and Innovation Edvinas Grikšas said last October that despite the change of owners, “Mere” could be included in the list of sanctioned companies in the near future.
The turnover of “Latprodukti”, registered in 2020, reached 31.57 million euros in 2024 – 53 percent more than in 2023. The company incurred losses of 71.8 thousand euros, although it operated profitably a year earlier. The company’s financial results for 2025 have not yet been published. The company directly belongs to the Serbian company “SKTrade DOO Beograd”, and the ultimate beneficial owner is S. Šnaideris.
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There are 12 “Mere” stores in Latvia, and about 20 in Lithuania.
