The new manager of the Lithuanian low-cost store chain "Mere" — the Spain-registered company "Vigalight" — is controlled by three citizens of Russia, who previously managed this chain through the company "Valiente", reports the Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT, citing data from the Spanish business registry, writes LETA.
According to this data, 79% of the company "Vigalight", registered last year in Barcelona, is owned by Sergey Schneider, 15% by Andrey Veikulaine, and the remaining 6% by Valery Yakovlev.
Until September 19 of this year, the "Mere" chain in Lithuania was managed by the company "Valiente", which was owned by five citizens of Russia: Anna Schneider (66%), Rustam Kilizhekov (15%), Andrey Schneider (12%) — brother of Sergey Schneider, Yakovlev (5%) and Veikulaine (2%).
As reported by Lithuanian media in mid-October, Russian citizens transferred ownership rights of the operating company "Mere" in Lithuania to a firm registered in Spain.
The "Mere" store chain in several European countries, including Latvia, was founded by brothers Sergey and Andrey Schneider, who own the discount store chain "Svetofor" in Russia.
In May, Poland imposed sanctions against the company "Torgservis PL", owned by the Schneiders, which opened several stores under the names "MyPrice" and "Moja cena". The "Mere" stores in Poland were closed after Russia's renewed invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The Polish Ministry of Internal Affairs justified the sanctions by stating that the Schneider brothers indirectly support Russian aggression against Ukraine.
The "Mere" chain began operations in the Lithuanian market in 2019. It currently has 29 stores.
It was previously reported that at the end of January 2025, Lithuanian law enforcement agencies began an investigation into the suspected sale of counterfeit goods in these stores. Charges were brought against eight individuals, and searches were conducted in the "Mere" stores.
In July, the Ministry of Economy and Innovation of Lithuania appealed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to consider the possibility of imposing sanctions against the owners of "Mere". Even after the management of the chain was transferred to a Spanish company, Minister of Economy and Innovation Edvinas Grikshas stated that the issue of sanctions against "Mere" remains relevant.
It was previously reported that in June, the Saeima of Latvia referred a draft resolution from the National Alliance to the Committee on Economic Affairs, Agriculture, Environmental and Regional Policy to include the Latvian operator of the "Mere" chain — LLC "Latprodukti" and its owners — in the national sanctions list.
In early November, it became known that the owners of the managing company "Mere" in Latvia — LLC "Latprodukti" — will further participate in the company's capital through a company registered in Serbia, LLC "SKTrade", according to data from the resource "Firmas.lv". At the same time, the actual beneficiary of the company remains Russian citizen Sergey Schneider.
