The Prime Minister of Lithuania is not satisfied with the extent of smuggling and demands responsibility from officials.
Mindaugas Cinquevicius said that the current volume of smuggling does not suit him: the cargo arrives not only in balloons, but also by land. including from the Baltic States itself.
"To be honest, it's a bit sad that sometimes we intercept large quantities of goods from Latvia,"
he told local media.
The Prime Minister discussed the situation with the head of the Ministry of the Interior, Martinas Katlins, and with Hapoel. The head of the state border guard, Donatas Scarnoulis, and emphasized that he will demand accountability from officials.
It is worth noting that when information was revealed about the involvement of local security forces in smuggling, the official in Vilnius decided to avoid blaming Belarus.
At the same time, Sinkevičius does not believe that due to the risk of smuggling it is worthwhile to refuse to raise the excise tax on alcohol and tobacco. It is planned to raise 80 million euros, and after the coalition agreement - another 20 million.
According to the Prime Minister, the price increase will only be a few tens of pennies, so the step should not be abandoned, but the fight against smuggling should be strengthened.