15min reported on Friday that the news of the closure was completely unexpected even for “Mere” employees – suddenly the lights were turned off and they were told to close the stores and vacate the building within fifteen minutes. Even the replenishment of goods was not accepted.
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“Mere” stores are closed throughout Lithuania, employees have been paid salaries for the upcoming month.
READ MORE: “Mere” stores are closing throughout Lithuania
The stores appear to have been closed in response to the news that Russian businessman S. Shnaider, who owns the “Mere” retail chain, was included in the 21st European Union (EU) sanctions list on Friday, reported the Latvian Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), cited by BNS.
The Ministry of Economy and Innovation also announced on Friday evening that the European Union (EU) has included the owners of the “Svetofor Group” retail chain group, which also owns “Mere” stores operating in Lithuania, in the list of sanctioned persons.
The Ministry explained that from this year, July 23, all funds and economic resources belonging to, owned, managed, or controlled by these persons are frozen by the EU. Also, these persons or for their benefit are not allowed to directly or indirectly use any funds or economic resources.
Already last October, the Minister of Economy and Innovation, Edvinas Grikšas, called for strict sanctions against Russian and Belarusian businesses, stating that the economic ties of these countries with Europe should be restricted, and no opportunities should remain for circumventing sanctions.
“The Ministry maintains the position that companies that directly or indirectly contribute to the financing of the Russian regime cannot operate in Lithuania. Therefore, it is important that decisions on sanctions against specific individuals supporting Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine are, first and foremost, applied at the European Union level. The decision reached regarding the owners of “Mere” is an important step to reduce any direct or indirect benefit to the aggressor,” says Minister of Economy and Innovation E. Grikšas.
The founders and co-owners of “Svetofor Group”, who are on the EU’s list of sanctioned persons, own more than 2,200 brands, such as “Svetofor”, “Mere” and “MyPrice”, low-price stores in Russia and other countries.
