Kalnapilis-Tauro Group Under Investigation for Suspected Beer Trafficking in Kaliningrad: Four Associates in the Hot Seat

At the beginning of September, blogger Skirmantas Malinauskas posted on his YouTube channel about the beer found in two stores operating in the Kaliningrad region.

The man claimed to have received photos taken in the Eurospar and Petioročka retail chains (rus. Пятёрочка), where it can be seen that at least four types of beer produced by the “Kalnapilis-Tauro” group, bottled in 0.5 liter cans, are on the shelves in the alcohol department. Both stores of the retail chain are located in Karaliaučius.

S. Malinauskas said that these photos were taken “now, not some time before”. He also asked his source for additional photos proving that this beer “display” is actually in the King’s shop.

“I am 100 percent convinced that those photos were taken very recently, when I asked for them, they were taken precisely in Kaliningrad, when I asked for it,” he stated in the program.

Lukas Balandis/BNS photo/Skirmantas Malinauskas

The photos seen in the show’s video show beers with brewing dates several months earlier, in 2024. in the spring

“Obviously, this beer was not produced for the Russian market – it was produced for the Lithuanian market and ended up in Kaliningrad,” said the journalist.

The labels indicate that the wholesale importer to Russia is the Kaliningrad company Pivnoj Dom Yantarnyj.

VIDEO: A post shared by the representatives of “Kalnapilis-Tauro group”.

The declaration of conformity, dated August 16, regarding “light pasteurized filtered beer “Kalnapilis Pilsner” was also raising questions for S. Malinauskas. The name of the declarant and other additional data were not publicly displayed.

“Is it really possible to do it? [pateikti deklaracijas] without the knowledge of Kalnapilis?” he asked rhetorically.

“Kalnapilis-Tauro” representatives: the information provided is not accurate

Commenting on the situation indicated in S. Malinauskas’ video, Marijus Valdas Kirstukas, head of “Kalnapilis-Tauro group” 15min said that the information he provided was not accurate.

“We have not exported to the markets of Russia and Belarus since March 2022. We have clearly informed all trading partners about this restriction. We learned about the specific situation you mentioned from the show you mentioned on YouTube. When were the photos shown in the show taken, are they really from shopping chains in the Kaliningrad region – only the creators of the show could answer, we do not have such information at our disposal”, – 15min he commented.

The manager of “Kalnapilis-Tauro grupė” indicated that after S. Malinauskas’ broadcast, the company immediately started conducting an internal investigation.

Personal album photo/CEO Marijus Valdas Kirstukas of “Kalnapilis-Tauro grupė” company.

“As far as we know, our company’s products are not available in the specified retail chains, this can also be seen in the online store of one of the mentioned retail chains. The same is confirmed by the photo and video material received from several SPAR and Piatiorochka stores in Kaliningrad this week, which we are also sharing,” the comment states.

However, the criticism of S. Malinauskas and the information presented may have an impact – the company is currently analyzing the actions of four EU partner countries.

“Based on the batch numbers and production dates of the product photos provided in the show, we identified 4 foreign (Polish and Romanian) companies that bought the products of these batches and initiated the procedure to collect information where these 4 companies resold our products. After collecting and analyzing all the information, as in previous cases, we will terminate cooperation with those companies that resold or could resell our products to Russia,” it is stated. 15min in the received comment.

Denies relations with the Kaliningrad region company “Pivnoj Dom Yantarny”

M.Kirstukas 15min clarified the import rules and stated that he does not cooperate with the “Pivnoj Dom Yantarny” company mentioned by S. Malinauskas. “Kalnapilis-Tauro group” stated that no Russian or Belarusian company from 2022 March has not provided information to obtain certificates.

“The program contained information that this company certified our products in the Kaliningrad region. It is also assumed that such a certificate would not have been obtained without the knowledge of the manufacturer. This assumption is incorrect. The publicly available certification website for imports to Russia states that an application by the importer is sufficient to obtain a certificate, as well as a contract between the importer in Kaliningrad and any selling company – that is, the manufacturer does not participate in this process,” commented M. Kirstukas, who shared a link describing this order.

It was also in the media spotlight in March

Lithuanian media also wrote about the sale of “Kalnapilis” beer in Kaliningrad in March.

Then lrt.lt on the portal, after receiving photos from a reader, it was also written that the stores of the Kaliningrad region sold “Kalnapilis” and “Tauro” beer, bottled in November and December last year. “Kalnapilis” beer can also be purchased in the online store “Spar Online”.

Head of “Kalnapilis-Tauro group”. 15min said that after lrt.lt In the publicized case, the company conducted an internal investigation and checked the facts about the possible resale of the products to the Kaliningrad region.

“After the investigation and gathered facts, a decision was made to terminate cooperation with 3 trading companies that bought the same batch of products, since it was not possible to identify a specific company that could have resold the products. Such investigations were carried out even before this case made public by LRT – by then we had already terminated the contracts with three trading companies that had possibly resold our products to Kaliningrad. In total, we have already terminated cooperation with 6 companies”, said M. Kirstukas.

Photo of Kalnapilis-Tauro group/”Kalnapilis-Tauro group” was rated by customers as the most sustainable partner

The head of the “Kalnapilis-Tauro group” also said that neither they nor other producers of Lithuania or neighboring countries have real legal leverage that would prevent potential schemes of intermediaries to resell production to the Russian market due to the principle of free trade in the European Union (EU).

“After purchasing the product, the trading partner of the EU countries has the right to resell it to the EU or third countries without the knowledge of the manufacturer. Since our company only sells products to distributors in other countries and does not deal with product delivery or logistics, we have no ability to preventively control the further course of product movement. Therefore, we are forced to react only to cases that have already occurred”, commented V. Kirstukas.

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Why is the presence of Lithuanian beer ⁤in ​Russian retail stores controversial?

Lithuanian ⁣Beer ⁤Found in Russian Retail Stores: Controversy ⁢Surrounds Export Claims

In ⁢a shocking revelation, Lithuanian blogger Skirmantas Malinauskas recently posted on his YouTube ⁢channel about discovering beer from the “Kalnapilis-Tauro” group in two stores ⁢operating in the Kaliningrad region of Russia. The​ blogger claimed that the photos were taken recently and‌ showed at least four types of beer produced by the group, packaged in 0.5-liter cans, on the shelves‌ of Eurospar and Petioročka retail chains in Karaliaučius.

Malinauskas expressed his conviction that the photos were‍ taken recently, stating, ⁣”I am 100 percent convinced that those photos were taken very ⁢recently, when I asked for them, they were taken precisely in Kaliningrad, when I asked for it.”⁤ The labels on the beer cans indicated that the wholesale importer to Russia was the Kaliningrad company ‌Pivnoj Dom Yantarnyj.

The blogger ⁢raised questions​ about how the beer, which was allegedly produced for the Lithuanian market, ended up in Russian ‍retail stores. He pointed out that the⁤ declaration of conformity for “light pasteurized filtered beer ⁣’Kalnapilis P