Authors: Šarūnas Černiauskas, Stanislau Ivashkevich, Alexander Yaroshevich, Miglė Krancevičiūtė

Other materials: report 2, report 3

Two investigative stories were produced in collaboration between Siena.lt (Lithuania) and Belsat TV (Belarus), with support from OCCRP. The team investigated two Belarusian oligarchs: Aliaksei Aleksin and Alexander Zaytsev, who rose to power and became some of the most powerful businessmen in Belarus. The story also investigated Alexander Lukashenko’s claims that announced a reform of the national tobacco industry, further bolstering the productivity of the already over-productive cigarette factories.

Author: Michal Frank

The investigation opened the case of cleaning FNsP Prešov (University Hospital). The new director kick off the cleaning company during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, he put there a new company (two days cleaned hospital staff). The new company quickly called people from the employment office and did not even pay them. The originaly company went bankrupt and most of its employees lost their jobs. It was a very difficult situation during the COVID-19 pandemic in a region with high unemployment.

Authors: Indrė Makaraitytė, Jurga Tvaskienė, Mindaugas Aušra (all from LRT)

In Spring 2020, the Government of Lithuania has purchased rapid tests for 6 million euros. When law enforcement launched an investigation into this procurement, the first suspect was the Deputy Minister of Health. However, data gathered by LRT journalistic investigations team shows that the transaction, which is currently being investigated by law enforcement, has received a lot of attention from the team of Prime Minister Sauliaus Skvernelis. The direct order to start the procurement urgently came from the then Prime Minister’s adviser, and the tests were purchased by a company that had just been established. Moreover, 0.5 million tests were purchased at three times the price paid by other institutions and from a company that had rarely participated in public procurements. So far, most of the tests have not been used.

Authors: Rūta Juknevičiūtė (LRT), Mikhail Maglov (“Scanner project”), Ivanna Trutnenko (RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service)

Report on YouTube

A Kaunas-based company breached EU sanctions by supplying equipment for the construction of power plants in Russian-annexed Crimea. Water filtration systems from Lithuania were used in the construction of thermal power plants in Crimea, as data collected by LRT Investigative Journalism Team and a Russian anti-corruption initiative Scanner Project shows. The Lithuanian company Run Engineering supplied the systems to a Russian company Voronezh-Aqua, not being authorised to export dual-use items.

Authors: Mindaugas Aušra, Jurga Tvaskienė (both from LRT)

Other materials: report 2, report 3

The series of investigations Miškų valdovai (Eng. Timber Lords) focuses on the forestry business lobby, which for at least 10 years has been trying to influence politicians in favour of business to pass amendments to state timber sales so that timber becomes cheaper for the companies with the largest market shares. The investigation analyses the industry’s intensified efforts after the forest reform, calculates the damage to the State and companies, and identifies the politicians who are most active in representing the industry’s interests. The series also exposes shadow timber sales schemes, which show that a large share of state timber is unaccounted for and that independent timber accountants employed by the State are also working for the largest timber buyers.

Promotion in Slovak

Authors: Július Buday, Michal Frank

The amount of nitrogenous substances in our groundwater is increasing from year to year. There are several reasons. One of them is the lack of sewerage in many Slovak villages. However, the Water Management Research Institute has evidence that intensive agricultural activity is also a major producer. Farmers refuse.

Authors: Lenka Haniková, Radoslav Marek

Other materials: report 2, report 3

In the series of four articles, our team investigated the pollution of the Ružín water reservoir located in Eastern Slovakia. At the time, Ružín had some media attention thanks to a new environmental project being started by the Ministry of Environment. The aim of the project and the attention of the public and media were focused mainly on the surface waste from illegal landfills. The project is supposed to solve problems connected to relocation and the processing of the waste. Our team focused on the pollution of water by heavy metals, a serious problem with practically zero attention.

Author: Tomas Janonis

The topic of my journalistic research is illegal houses on the shores of Lake Baltieji Lakajai or even on the lake itself. They are built without any permits. And most importantly, they are located in Labanoras Regional Park, a state-protected area. The buildings not only damage the landscape, but at the same time, they hinder the rest of the people. Also, the owners of illegal cottages receive illegal income for their rent.

Author: Marco Németh, Adam Zavřel

The topic of research I processed is the building of a new multifunctional hall in the city leisure park in Dunajská Streda, where the city plans to build a new sports hall next to the old one, which includes cutting down 150 trees. After this proposal, many negative reactions came from citizens. The city officials began to consider buying land, which is located near the area selected by the city, but on which there are fewer trees. Activists have launched a petition blaming the city council for failing to provide accurate information regarding the construction. They also pointed out the exorbitant price of alternative land and submitted their proposals. Stakeholders are aware of the need to build a new sports hall so that a successful handball team can also take part in international competitions, but the question is also at what cost from the ecological viewpoint.

Authors: Birutė Davidonytė, Dovydas Pancerovas

An investigation “Lorry slaves” reveals that one of the most important areas of the Lithuanian economy – the freight transport business – is based on immigrant exploitation. About 77,000 long-haul drivers are working in Lithuania, and about 90% of them are immigrants from Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, or India. Believing Lithuanian businesses’ promises about high wages and good working conditions, these people come to Lithuania. But once they become employed, they get trapped in the exploitation schemes created by carriers. Those schemes are disclosed in our investigation. All of this is also related to tax evasion. The largest transport companies had the opportunity to avoid part of the taxes by paying drivers’ salaries in cash. We collected facts, testimonies, expert opinions, documents and made a two-hour documentary, the first such detailed story about this problem in Lithuania.

Authors: Benas Gerdžiūnas, Indrė Makaraitytė, Rūta Juknevičiūtė, Jurgita Čeponytė (all from LRT), Kareem Botane (freelancer), Michail Maglov (Radio Free Europe)

Report 2

The primary objective of the two part investigation (published on 14.07.2021 and 12.08.2021) was to map in detail the path of migrants travelling from Iraq to Western Europe via Lithuania and who benefits from their journey. We have found that the Belarusian regime, in cooperation with the Iraqi authorities, has simplified the procedure for issuing Belarusian tourist visas to Iraqi citizens. Iraqis usually obtained these visas through Iraqi travel agencies, as they had purchased the whole package from them: they were promised a legal trip to Western Europe, which consisted of a direct flight to Minsk, a few days in hotels arranged with the Belarusian authorities, and finally the transportation from the hotel to the Lithuanian border.

Authors: Tereza Vahančíková, Lucia Gavenčiaková

Our article explores the relationship between the use of modern technologies to monitor public spaces and the rights of citizens whose data are being gathered. Using a case study of the city of Zilina we demonstrate that the use of cameras in public spaces lacks transparency, evaluation of its efficiency, and public debate in Zilina and in the whole country. First, the article covers the evolution of the public monitoring system in Zilina, including the technological components and their locations. Second, based on the statistics obtained from the city representatives, it analyzes and evaluates the efficiency of the public monitoring system, coming to a conclusion that the cameras were annually responsible for identifying just around 1 percent of the crimes. This conclusion raises the question of whether the use of cameras is proportionate to such invasion of privacy and human rights.

Author: Katarína Gécziová

Other materials: report 2, report 3, report 4, report 5

In 2020 I devoted my work to the situation in children’s homes, stories of adopted children, and their integration into social life. Because where the Daily Korzár is local, I specifically focused on the situation in the east of Slovakia.

Author: Augustinas Algirdas Šulija

Report online

In the summer of 2021, Lithuania started experiencing a massive influx of irregular migrants coming from the Middle Eastern and North African countries, which triggered an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in the country. According to Lithuanian officials at the time, the migrant flow was facilitated by the regime of the Belarusian authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko, who was threatening to flood its western neighbor with migrants and contraband as a response to the sanctions imposed by the EU and numerous countries for the crackdown on peaceful protesters following the 2020 Belarusian presidential election and the forced landing of Ryanair flight 4978, after which a prominent Belarusian opposition journalist was arrested. It is still the only investigation into migration from the countries the most irregular migrants are coming from to Lithuania.

Authors: Vidmantas Balkūnas, Gabrielė Navickaitė

In 2021, the State Border Guard Service detained more than four thousand migrants near Belarus. How many crossed the border at all is unknown. Some of them manage to avoid the Lithuanian border guards and continue on to their dream country. This could be Germany, Finland, France, or Norway. Lithuania is of no interest to them. Our country’s border with Belarus is simply the closest, cheapest, and safest gateway to Europe. 15min found out the hitherto undisclosed facts about migration schemes – what paths migrants travel, who helps them, to whom and how much money is paid. There are also exclusive photographs attached to the report.

Author: Irma Bogdanovičiūtė

This journalistic investigation covers the modern slavery of Lithuanian drivers in their own motherland. The drivers are being exploited by the biggest driving companies like Girteka, Hoptrans, and others. Investigation showed that the schemes of hiding taxes, fake employment contracts, and misinformation is a commonplace. What is more, drivers experience psychological and physical violence made by their employers. Lithuanian law enforcement and the Commission of Labor Disputes are powerless to stop these damaging “traditions” in the logistic sector.

Author: Saša Brixová

For years they parked right infront of the entrance to their flats. Today, they are being fined by the police for that. We were contacted by these residents with a plea to find out why this change had happened.

Author: Vitalia Bella

On June 11, 2020, 22-year-old Ivan Čulok attacked teachers and students of the United School on M. R. Štefánik Street in Vrútky, town in the northeastern Slovakia. Formerly a student at this school, Čulok fatally wounded Deputy Headmaster Jaroslav Budz with a knife. He also injured a janitor, a teacher, and two children who ended up in the hospital. While trying to escape, the attacker was then shot dead by the police. The motive for his act has never been investigated or revealed by the officials. As the first possible motive, bullying which, according to former classmates, Ivan Čulok had experienced at school for a long time was taken into consideration. In the article I tried to reveal Ivan´s background and motives that had led him to the brutal act.