Lukšių Dairy is acquired by We in Tomorrow together with US businessman Egis Klimas

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BNS 2025-09-18 12:11:30 Comments: 0

Vilkyškių pieninės, a loss-making Lukšių pieninės managed by financially troubled „Marijampolės pieno konservai“ (MPK), has been bought by the Vilnius-based computer maintenance company „We in Tomorrow“ and is undergoing restructuring.

The new shareholder was registered in the Centre of Registers on 16 September, and all shares of the dairy were acquired by „We in Tomorrow“ on 9 September.Gediminas Gižas, the head of „We in Tomorrow“, confirmed to BNS on Wednesday that the company he heads acquired Lukšių pieninė in cooperation with the US entrepreneur Egis Klimas, who is the managing partner of the transaction.

„The transaction was a complex one, acquiring creditors' claims and a 100 percent stake in Lukšių pieninė. The amount of the transaction is confidential information, therefore we cannot disclose it," G. Gižas told BNS in a commentary.

According to him, Lukšių pieninė „We in Tomorrow“ was acquired by Lukšių pieninė „We in Tomorrow“ because it sees a prospect in the dairy industry.

„Lukšių pieninė will not be closed down, it will continue to operate and produce its usual products, and we also see great opportunities for expansion and plan to invest in upgraded dairy production lines,“ explained Mr. Gižas.

„We in Tomorrow“'s 2024 annual report shows that the company generated revenues of EUR 4.2 thousand last year and incurred losses of EUR 12.5 thousand. It remained loss-making in 2022-2023. At the end of 2024, its accounts payable and other liabilities amounted to EUR 795 thousand.

„Definitely not with stolen money (we bought the dairy – BNS). This is probably the report for the previous period. There will be a new report and everything will be visible there," Gižas told BNS earlier on Wednesday.

Portal 15min.lt reported in 2019 that G. Gižas is the former owner of „Eagle Vision“, the operator of the bankrupted optical salon „Regėjimas“. Gižas told the portal that „the company was taken over and ruined by bankruptcy administrators in order to make money, the employees were paid off, somebody robbed him, and law enforcement is not investigating“. However, the company's employees and creditors told the portal that they do not want to remember him and are counting moral and financial losses.

H. Karpavičius and G. Bertašius say they do not know E. Klimas

Neither Karpavičius nor Gintaras Bertašius, the head and shareholder of „Marijampolė pieno konzervai“, which bought the debts of „Vilvi Group“, which is buying the company, could explain to BNS on Wednesday how Klimas is connected with „We in Tomorrow“.

„How („We in Tomorrow“ – BNS) is related to this Klimas, I do not know. (...) He bought everything personally, and how all these things happen afterwards is for him to decide," Karpavičius told BNS.

He said that he had no personal contact with Mr Klimas, Mr Gizh or Mr Ivanov.

„I don't know him, I haven't communicated with him (E. Klimas – BNS). He is from the USA, I understand, but I don't know exactly. I was not interested at all. If all the institutions are missing, it means all the money is clean, so what more is there for me to look into. Who he is and everything else is none of my business. He is a polite, normal person, approved," Karpavičius explained to BNS. „All the legal contracts, there are lawyers who look at the legal part and there are authorities who check and look deeper, and I am not involved in this process“, – he added.

One of MPK's indirect shareholders, as in the past, said he could not disclose either the liabilities taken over or the amount of the transaction due to confidentiality reasons.

At the time, Bertašius told BNS that the initiative of the new shareholder of Lukšių pieninė came from the owners of MPK, including Karpavičius, and that "Vilvi Group" did not object to the transaction, as the new owner had bought out the debt of the Lukšių pieninė to the group.

„I know that Egis Klimas (...) settled with Marijampole. I need to know (who settled with „Vilvi Group“ – BNS), but I won't answer now, I won't answer tomorrow either, I will answer on Friday, – BNS was told by G. Bertasius, who is based in Latvia, in Bauska. He said he had seen the letter signed by E. Klimas, in which he, as a major creditor of the dairy, asks to make a deal to buy Lukšių pieninė.

Lukšių pieninė disclosed in its 2024 annual report that its total payables at the end of the year were €15.2 million and €1.82 million to the bank alone. According to the document, the bank sold the latter debt to „Artea“ on 14 February. In addition, the dairy's largest creditor, MPK, promised not to demand repayment of the €10.874 million debt until the end of the restructuring.

Lukšių dairies reported continued losses this year, despite efforts to maintain production and continue operations to pay creditors and meet customer orders.

BNS previously reported that MPK is being acquired by Vilkyškių pieninė, one of Lithuania's largest dairy processing groups, which is owned by Vilvi Group – the deal is yet to be approved by the Competition Council.