In the near future, the chain of stores operating in Latvia may be subject to sanctions: minister 0 41

"Recent changes and rearrangements in Mere, when the ownership is transferred to other owners, should not mislead us. The authorities are working, we are cooperating with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to find out who the new shareholders are, and the direction remains unchanged. We still plan all necessary legal actions on our part to ensure that this commercial enterprise is sanctioned in the near future," the minister stated in the Saeima during the 'Government Hour.'

This was his response to a question from former minister Lukas Savickas regarding what is planned to be done about this retail chain.

The business news portal Verslo zinios reported that there have been changes in the shareholders of Valiente, the company owning the Mere chain, which has 19 stores: several Russian citizens transferred their ownership rights to the Spanish company Vigalight, which is developing a similar business in Barcelona, and among the managers of this company are other Russian surnames.

According to the Registry Center, as of September 19, Anna and Andrey Schneider, Andrey Veikulaine, Valery Lakovlev, and Rustam Kilyzhekov are no longer shareholders of Valiente. The entire share package has been transferred to Vigalight, which was established in Barcelona last year.

According to Verslo zinios, since January 2025, Vigalight has been headed by Ilya Eygin (instead of Igor Yagupov), and Elena Avtaeva has been appointed as the company's representative (instead of Lilia Astanina), as evidenced by data from the Spanish registration publication Boletin Oficial del Registro Mercantil.

Data from the Lithuanian Registry Center shows that the ultimate beneficial owner of Valiente with 66% of shares is Russian citizen A. Schneider.

It is worth noting that earlier, the national union of Latvia demanded the closure of stores with this brand, as they are owned by Russians. However, food trade is not subject to sanctions.