Rytis Satkauskas, head of International Treaties Division of the Foreign Ministry, will be authorized to negotiate and initial the deal between the governments of Lithuania and Mauritania, if the government approves a respective proposal.
Lithuania’s fish processing and bakery group Vičiūnai intends to open a fish processing facility in Mauritania in the nearest future. Mauritanian partners of the Lithuanian group let it use an existing fish processing facility where Vičiūnai would install equipment delivered from Lithuania. Vičiūnai also plans to build a new facility in Mauritania in future.
The waters off the coast of Mauritania are among the richest fishing grounds in the world. Late in July, Lithuanian fishers’ community expressed dissatisfaction with the fisheries partnership agreement between the European Union (EU) and Mauritania, which set forth various fishing restrictions.
Back in 2010, Lithuania’s KG Group controlled by businessman Tautvydas Barštys, launched a fish oil production facility project in Mauritania but suspended it in 2011 due to “differences of working culture.”