It has been clarified that “Garant Group” together with “2PM Baltic“, whose general director Sims Šakalinis once managed “Laivo sandelis”, won tenders for separate procurement contracts with the Police Department. Specifically, “2PM Baltic” sold an underwater search robot for 33,000 euros to the anti-terrorist operation group “Aras”, while “Laivo sandelis” sold parts of the combat cutter.
It is reported that “2PM Baltic” started winning public agency procurement tenders a few months after its establishment, when the company was registered in a warehouse, had one employee, and the average salary was zero euros.
The police department stated that it split the procurement to increase competition between suppliers and empower small and medium-sized businesses to win contracts.
According to the public procurement system database, which adheres to the General Data Protection Regulation, there is classified information regarding the manager of “2PM Baltic”, the person responsible for contract execution, and the address. It only lists the company name.
LRT reported that “2PM Baltic” has replaced “Laivo sandelis”, a company with alleged Russian connections, in public procurement.
Šakalinis, who previously managed “Laivo sandelis”, claimed to LRT investigative journalists that his company “2PM Baltic” is not related to “Garant Group”, whose founder Vasilija Pigareva’s company “Baltnavis” profits from Russian state orders and is managed by his sons. Šakalinis stated that he left “Laivo sandelis” in February due to its connection with Russia and that “Garant Group” was not informed of “2PM Baltic’s” involvement in state procurement.
Deputy Interior Minister Vitaly Dmitriev informed reporters that the procurement process was referred to a government commission responsible for evaluating transactions involving strategic companies.