Lithuania to auction off confiscated milk tankers and fire trucks from Belarus

March 31, MINSK . Belarusian MILK tankers and fire trucks that were driven from Belarus through Lithuania will be sold at auction. This was announced by the Prosecutor General of Lithuania Nida Grunskiene, Lithuanian media writes.

"The prosecutor's decision to sell 17 milk tankers and 17 fire trucks has already been made. The customs department is responsible for execution," the Prosecutor General said. According to her, the 17 milk tankers will be sold at auction on Tuesday, April 1. "We really hope that someone will be able to buy these vehicles and give them to Ukraine . I think that Ukraine really needs them," Nida Grunskiene said.

The vehicles were seized in 2023 in the port of Klaipeda when they were driven from Belarus through Lithuania. According to the Lithuanian authorities, 17 milk tankers were en route to Cuba, 17 fire trucks - to Zimbabwe, in circumvention of sanctions. Lithuania said the fire trucks were confiscated due to sanctions against Belarus and the company that supplied them. Zimbabwe said there was no legal basis for the seizure of the vehicles. Zimbabwe's attorney general, Virginia Mabhiza, visited Lithuania in early 2024 , where her request to return the fire trucks was refused.

Zimbabwean government spokesman Ndawaningi Mangwana said the fire trucks were urgently needed for "firefighting operations, the protection of lives and property, and the preservation of Zimbabwe's World Heritage sites and critical crops that have survived the devastating drought."