Lithuanian authorities fear masses of Ukrainian cash – tougher measures are being prepared
Lithuanian authorities have noted a significant increase in the influx of Ukrainian cash due to the influx of refugees entering the country from Russia and Ukraine. The government is preparing to submit to the Seimas a draft amendment to the regulations that would tighten penalties for violating the rules for importing cash, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“Often, in order not to declare cash, citizens cross the border in groups. The amounts transported are divided into smaller amounts - up to 10 euros,” the Lithuanian Ministry of Finance described the scheme of how arrivals bypass restrictions on the amount of money transported.
According to the Belarusian emigration portal “Zerkalo”, now the illegal import of cash into Lithuania is punishable by a fine of 200 to 1200 euros, which, according to the initiators of the amendment, is not an effective sanction. If the amendments are adopted, the fine will range from 390 to 1200 euros for the first violation and from 1004 to 3900 euros if the person is caught by law enforcement again.
In addition, the Lithuanian government proposes to confiscate money if the person transporting it provided false or incomplete information in the declaration, regardless of whether the violation was committed for the first time or repeatedly. It is also proposed to take away money if “it does not belong to the person transporting it across the border.”
From December 2022 to January 2023, Lithuanian customs officers recorded 84 cases of attempts to import Ukrainian currency worth more than 41 million hryvnia, which is equivalent to 1,05 million euros.
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