Lietuvos Rytas: Lithuania unfreezes Peftiev's bank accounts

A Lithuanian court delivered a judgement in favour of Lukashenka's oligarch in his complaint against the EU sanctions.

Relations with Belarus can again bring ill fame to Lithuania in the EU, ru.delfi.lt reports with a link to Lietuvos rytas.

The Vilnius Regional Administrative Court granted a claim of Alyaksnadr Lukashenka's bag-man Vladimir Peftiev and the companies he owns against the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania and the Financial Crimes Investigation Service.

Peftiev, who is considered to be among the richest people in Belarus, asked to annul a decision of the Lithuanian MFA allowing to freeze his private accounts in European banks. The measure was a part of economic sanctions imposed by the EU Council last year in response to harassment of the opposition by the Belarusian authorities.

The Lithuanian court found the grounds insufficient.

Representatives of the ministry said they would discuss if they should appeal against the court decision.