Hazardous bacteria found in Lithuania's Judex products - prosecutors
VILNIUS, Aug 04, BNS – Analysis of frozen food seized during a search in Judex, a Kaunas-based Lithuanian frozen food production company, has revealed hazardous bacteria, the Lithuanian Prosecutor General's Office said on Thursday.
"After a preliminary analysis, experts established that some of the samples of the seized production contains bacteria that is a health hazard. The State Food and Veterinary Service (SFVS) has been notified of the results. It was addressed with a request to conduct a thorough check of the circumstances," reads the press release.
Vilnius newsroom,
Upcoming events for Thursday, August 4, 2016 in Lithuania
VILNIUS, Aug 04, BNS - The following events are scheduled for Thursday, August 4, 2016 in Lithuania:
PRESIDENT Dalia Grybauskaite to leave for Rio de Janeiro.
JUSTICE MINISTER Juozas Bernatonis to take part in an international conference on "Probation in the Baltic States" at 10 a.m.
Vilnius newsroom,
Lithuanian customs nab EUR 400,000 worth of psychotropic drugs at Latvian border
VILNIUS, Aug 04, BNS - Lithuanian customs officers found almost 400,000 worth of psychotropic tablets hidden in a car they stopped at the border with Latvia last weekend, the Customs Criminal Service said on Thursday.
Two young men, identified only by their initials G. K. and M. B., told the officers that they were heading for Finland when their Seat Alhambra was stopped for a check near the village of Germaniskis at around 5 a.m. on Saturday.
During the check, the officers discovered a large number of packs of Subutex, a prescription medication with psychotropic properties, tucked between two small lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries in the car's battery box.
The batteries were installed in the emptied automotive battery box to provide power to the car, leaving enough room for hiding the drugs.
A tablet of Subutex contains 8 milligrams of buprenorphine and is said to cost up to 150 euros per tablet in the black market in Finland.
The packs hidden in the car contained as many as 2,555 tablets with an estimated street value of up to 383,000 euros.
Both men were arrested on suspicions of large-scale drug smuggling. If convicted, they face prison sentences of ten to 15 years.
Vilnius newsroom,
President Grybauskaite off to Rio to support Lithuanian Olympians
VILNIUS, Aug 04, BNS - Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite on Thursday is leaving for Rio de Janeiro to support Lithuanian athletes in the Summer Olympic Games.
The president will attend the opening ceremony of the 2016 Summer Olympics, see the performances of swimmers Giedrius Titenis and Ruta Meilutyte, and watch a men's basketball match between Lithuania and Brazil, her press office said.
The Lithuanian delegation in the Rio Olympics consists of 67 athletes.
Vilnius newsroom
Lithuanian president congratulates her US counterpart on his birthday
VILNIUS, Aug 04, BNS - President Dalia Grybauskaite has congratulated, both personally and on behalf of the Lithuanian people, US President Barack Obama on his 55th birthday.
"I highly value your honest service to the nation, your focus on the global agenda and your commitment to bringing the international community together to address the urgent issues of today," Grybauskaite said in her congratulatory message.
“Under your leadership, the United States has made decisive steps towards more concord and social justice, remaining the driving force behind the ideals of freedom and human rights, global peace and security," she said.
Grybauskaite underscored that the bonds of friendship between Lithuania and the United States had grown stronger in the years of Obama's presidency, her press office said in a press release.
The Lithuanian president also underlined "the US president's personal contribution to fostering long standing partnership between the two nations and his resolute support to our region and its security."
Grybauskaite wished "Obama and his family much happiness and success, as well as long years of peace, welfare and prosperity to the citizens of the United States."
Vilnius newsroom
Tomasevski says won't run for Lithuanian parlt to keep MEP seat for EAPL
VILNIUS, Aug 04, BNS - Valdemar Tomasevski, leader of the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania–Christian Families Alliance (EAPL-CFA), says that he has decided not to run for national parliament in the October general elections so that his party could keep its seat in the European Parliament.
"The party does not want to lose the mandate in the European Parliament. That mandate is important for us. I am a member of the third-biggest political group in the European Parliament and I am one of its signatories. It is a growing group. We simply do not want to lose this position and this seat," he told BNS on Thursday.
If Tomasevski won a seat at in the Seimas, he would have to give up his MEP mandate, which would then go to another member of the EAPL, Vilnius District Mayor Marija Rekst. If she opted against taking over the MEP mandate in order to keep her mayoral job, it would then go to Irina Rozova of the Russian Alliance, a partner of the EAPL-CFA.
Tomasevski said that his party does not want to lose the post of mayor of the Vilnius district, which it won in direct elections a year and a half ago.
"This was the key reason. I was ready to lead the (EAPL-CFA) list. But my closest comrades said that it would not be a good solution," the politician said.
"I will participate in the Seimas elections. I am heading and will continue to head the election headquarters and the whole election campaign," he added.
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Lithuania in for hot Friday with T-showers
VILNIUS, Aug 04, BNS - A hot day is in store for Lithuania on Friday with the mercury expected to climb up to 30 degrees Celsius and thunder showers forecast in many places, the country's Hydrometeorological Service said.
Temperatures will range from nighttime lows of 15-18C to daytime highs of 26-28C. It will be somewhat cooler in areas close to the Baltic Sea, at around 23C during the day. Rain and thunderstorms are forecast across most of the country, except for the regions of Vilnius and Kaunas where the skies will be mostly clear and dry.
Saturday's forecast calls for nighttime lows of 17-19C and daytime highs of 20-22C, with brief spells of rain and thunder possible.
Similar weather is expected to continue on Sunday, with mostly cloudy skies and a chance of brief showers.
Next week will see a return of dry weather with rising temperatures.
Vilnius newsroom
EC assessing Lithuanian address on Belarusian Astravyets' N-plant
VILNIUS, Aug 04, BNS – The European Commission is looking into the address filed by three Lithuanian ministers in connection to the Belarusian nuclear power plant under construction in Astravyets some 50 km from Vilnius. The commission's official confirmed to BNS that the Lithuanian address had been received.
"I can confirm that this letter has been received. We are now looking into it and as all letters sent to the Commission, also this letter will be duly replied to," EC's Spokeswoman for Climate Action and Energy Anna-Kaisa Itkonen told BNS Lithuania.
She also said that the EC wanted Belarus to conduct stress tests of the nuclear utility.
"Moreover, the Commission is discussing the organization of an EU peer review of the comprehensive and transparent risk and safety assessments ("stress test") of the NPP. Commission explicitly encourages a stress test at Belarus nuclear power plant," Itkonen added.
After the body of the Astravyets nuclear reactor tumbled on July 10, the plant's constructor, Russia's Rosatom, said it had no effect upon the equipment, however, the Belarusian Energy Ministry halted the assembly work.
Last Thursday, Lithuania's government handed a note to a Belarusian diplomat over the incident. Lithuania's foreign, energy and environment ministers sent a letter to European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic and Climate and Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete to inform them about the incident and to ask for active EU involvement in solving the issue of nuclear safety.
Vilnius newsroom
FSB general's appointment as Kaliningrad governor shows siloviki's influence in Kremlin
(expands)
VILNIUS, Aug 04, BNS - President Vladimir Putin has named his former bodyguard as governor of Kaliningrad, the Russian exclave sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland, in an effort to consolidate his administration by appointing people who are loyal to him, analysts told BNS.
Yevgeny Zinichev, a general of the Federal Security Service (FSB), a successor to the Soviet-era KGB, last week replaced Nikolay Tsukanov, who had unexpectedly stepped down as governor of the Kaliningrad region.
Experts say that the move points to the influence of the so-called siloviki, figures with a force-structure background, in Russia's politics.
Mikhail Vinogradov, a Russian political analyst, says that Putin's wish to have reliable people in the administration shows the region's importance for the Kremlin and may signal an attempt by Moscow to expand the influence of security bodies in the outer regions of Russia.
"It is no secret that the Kaliningrad region was on the periphery of the central government's attention both in the 1990s and in the 2000s," the president of the St. Petersburg Politics Foundation, a think-tank, told BNS by telephone.
The Kaliningrad region, which has 255 kilometers of joint border with Lithuania and a population of over 400,000 people, is significant to Russia in terms of military security, with several tens of thousands of high readiness troops deployed to the exclave.
The Lithuanian military say that the anti-aircraft, coastal defense and surface-to-surface missile capabilities stationed in the region could hinder the arrival of NATO reinforcements to the Baltic countries in the event of a war.
Some Russian officials say, in turn, that they are concerned about Kaliningrad being isolated from mainland Russia.
According to Lithuanian bodies, the Kaliningrad branch of FSB, which had been headed by Zinichev, the region's current acting governor, since 2015, paid much attention to intelligence operations in Lithuania.
Experts say that Zinichev's appointment as the region's head will have no major impact on the tense NATO-Russia relations as the governor normally stays away from foreign policy.
Solomon Ginzburg, an opposition lawmaker in Kaliningrad's regional Duma, says that the geopolitical tensions are just a background picture and that he is more worried about the region's economic and social problems.
"External factors, NATO's threat and so on are just a background. Far greater threats to Russia are its economic stagnation, top-level corruption, absence of investments, declining living standards, social polarization and a lack of Kaliningrad's regional development strategy," he told BNS.
In Ginzburg's words, "there has been no advance in talks with such fraternal countries as Lithuania on investments and the facilitation of the visa regime" over the past six years with Tsukanov in the governor's post.
Zinichev is one of the three figures from the Federal Protective Service (FSO), which protects high-ranking Russian state officials, including the president, appointed as regional governors this year.
"This is in line with the Russian government system's long-term trends showing that figures from the force structures play a pivotal role in it. Since Putin himself has been shaped by these structures, strategic posts are held by people linked to him," Linas Kojala, director of the Vilnius-based Eastern Europe Studies Center (EESC), told BNS.
"Kaliningrad is very important strategically not only in that it is a military outpost surrounded by NATO member states, but also because of the region's somewhat specific identify and the need to have an administration that is absolutely loyal to and fully dependent on the central government," Kojala said.
"In light of the upcoming parliamentary elections, and presidential elections two years later, this is another step in reinforcing the political vertical," he added.
Vilnius newsroom
Hazardous bacteria found in Lithuania's Judex products - prosecutors (updates)
(Updated version: New paras 3-last)
VILNIUS, Aug 04, BNS – Analysis of frozen food seized during a search in Judex, a Kaunas-based Lithuanian frozen food production company, has revealed hazardous bacteria, the Lithuanian Prosecutor General's Office said on Thursday.
"After a preliminary analysis, experts established that some of the samples of the seized production contains bacteria that is a health hazard. The State Food and Veterinary Service (SFVS) has been notified of the results. It was addressed with a request to conduct a thorough check of the circumstances," reads the press release.
Officers of the Prosecutor General's Office and the Special Investigation Service said they requested tests of the Judex products by experts who would be independent from SFVS, i.e., the Center of Public Health. The specialists were provided samples of products that were seized during the July 28 search. The products were ready for realization.
Lithuanian law-enforcement agencies are investigating suspicions that the State Food and Veterinary Service or subordinate institutions could have received information from relevant institutions about presence of Listeria monocytogenes bacteria in some of the Judex products, however, concealed the fact and did not take any action.
Suspicions have been brought against SFVS chief Jonas Milius of abuse of powers and document forgery. Suspicions have been brought against a total of six individuals in the influence peddling probe. Agents have searched offices of Milius, MP Petras Grazulis and Judex CEOs, as well as production facilities. Furthermore, Grazulis has been questioned as a special witness.
Vilnius newsroom
Upcoming events for Friday, August 5, 2016 in Lithuania
VILNIUS, Aug 04, BNS – The following events are scheduled for Friday, August 5, 2016 in Lithuania:
PRESIDENT Dalia Grybauskaite to visit Rio de Janeiro (Brazil).
Vilnius newsroom
Lithuania's chief vet fully failed at his job - healthmin
VILNIUS, Aug 04, BNS – Lithuania's chief veterinary officer Jonas Milius faced with legal suspicions has fully failed at his job, Health Minister Juras Pozela said following media reports about discovery of hazardous bacteria in the products of frozen food company Judex.
"We see this as Milius' full failure at his duties," Pozela told BNS Lithuania on Thursday.
Vilnius newsroom
Lithuania's PM to skip Olympics due to unacceptable flight fares
VILNIUS, Aug 04, BNS – Lithuania's Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius will not observe the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro due to what he said was unacceptable flight fare, the government's press service said on Thursday.
"Even when we started planning the visit to Brazil six months ago and tried to find the cheapest tickets in accordance to the Public Procurement Law, the fares seemed rather exaggerated. After learning the price for the whole delegation, the prime minister said he could not approve of the spending and refuses to go to Rio de Janeiro," Butkevicius' spokeswoman Evelina Butkute-Lazdauskiene said in a comment to BNS.
In her words, offers were received from three agencies, and the lowest airline fare for four members of the delegation was 44,000 euros.
Without public procurement, prices on ticket or airline websites are several times lower, said the spokeswoman.
President Dalia Grybauskaite left for Brazil earlier on Thursday to support the country's athletes in the Olympic Games. Grybauskaite will attend the opening ceremony in the legendary Maracana Stadium, observe the performance of swimmers Giedrius Titenis and Ruta Meilutyte, as well as watch the match between Lithuanian and Brazilian men's basketball teams.
Press service of Parliamentary Speaker Loreta Grauziniene said on Thursday that she would not go to Rio and, instead, stay to work in Lithuania, as the president is out of the country and the prime minister is on vacation.
Vilnius newsroom
Lithuania: Salmonella, Coliforms confirmed in Judex production
VILNIUS, Aug 04, BNS – Salmonella and Coliform bacteria have been detected in the products of the Lithuanian frozen food producer Judex, Vidmantas Paulauskas, deputy chief of the State Food and Veterinary Service, confirmed to BNS Lithuania on Thursday evening.
"We have received information from the Special Investigation Service about the bacteria they found. We have detected Escherichia coli and Salmonella in some of the products," Paulauskas stated.
The initial analysis was conducted by the laboratory of the National Center of Public Health in response to a request from prosecutors.
In Paulauskas' words, Judex operations have been suspended.
"Our specialists are working to establish how the contaminant got there, along with other tests," he added.
"In order to take precautionary measures and protect the society against the product that is possibly infected, we are conducting a complex check," said Paulauskas.
Asked whether the initial tests also revealed Listeria, he stated that the service had not received such information from law-enforcement agencies.
The veterinary service expects additional information from prosecutors on Friday morning.
In his words, SFVS specialists continue working in the Judex premises.
Discovery of hazardous bacteria in Judex production was announced by prosecutors earlier on Thursday in the framework of their investigation of influence peddling. In the investigation, chief veterinary officer Jonas Milius is suspected of abuse of powers and document forgery, with suspicions brought against another five individuals.
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