Oh Trouble, Oh Trouble. In Norway, You Can't Steal People's Salaries the Way You Can in Lithuania. Lithuanian Manager of "Vlantana" Sentenced to Prison in Norway

 

The former manager of the bankrupt transport company "Vlantana Norge" Vladas Stončius Jr. has been sentenced to 8 months in prison in Norway. The Romerike and Glomdal District Court found on August 18, 2026, that the manager acted intentionally, seeking to systematically reduce the company's costs at the expense of employees.

This decision became one of the most famous cases of social dumping and the so-called "wage theft" in the Scandinavian transport sector.

The most important highlights of the court's decision:

• Sentence: An 8-month prison sentence was imposed. He was also ordered to pay about 1.7 million Norwegian kroner (about 160 thousand euros) in compensation to the affected employees. The verdict can still be appealed within the specified time.

• Scheme of the violation: The court found that the company systematically falsified drivers’ time sheets. For example, actual shifts of up to 12 hours were recorded as just 4.5 hours in the documents in order to pay less than the minimum wage set in the country.

• Victims: The criminal case covered violations of the rights of approximately 200 long-haul drivers (mostly Lithuanians).

• Previous trials: This verdict followed a marathon of civil cases in which the Norwegian Court of Appeal had previously ordered the payment of approximately 20 million kroner (1.84 million euros) in compensation to the first 52 drivers who sought justice.

As a result of this scandal, Vlantana Norge lost its transport licenses and officially went bankrupt in April 2020. The Norwegian legal system has once again clearly demonstrated that company managers are personally liable for employee exploitation and financial manipulation. More information about it:

 

“The court ruled that Vladas Stončius Jr. acted intentionally to reduce the company’s expenses for employee salaries,” a Norwegian court ruled on August 18 in a 153-page verdict, Norwegian media outlet Frifagbevegelse.no reports.

 

The main defendant in the case was sentenced to eight months in prison.

The company went bankrupt in 2020

 

Vlantana Norge was a company owned by Lithuanian logistics giant Vlantana.

 

The company, established in Norway, was headed by V. Stončius until its bankruptcy in April 2020. According to the Norwegian publication, the company collapsed after it became clear that foreign drivers were systematically paid significantly lower salaries than they were entitled to under the country’s laws.

 

52 drivers applied to the court to recover the unpaid portion of their salaries. According to the minimum wage generally applicable in Norway, they should have received no less than the wage set in the collective agreement for the freight transport sector.

 

The V. Stončiai court ordered the drivers to pay a total of 13.4 million Norwegian kroner (approximately 1.23 million euros at the current exchange rate) in 2023, plus interest for late payments to the employees.

 

However, the legal troubles of the former chairman and CEO of Vlantana Norge did not end there. Last year, Norwegian prosecutors charged him with violating the country's labor law and the law according to which wage conditions stipulated in collective agreements in certain sectors become mandatory for all employers.

 

The case was heard this winter. The prosecutor requested a 15-month prison sentence for V. Stončius, and a five-month prison sentence for his accomplice Ovidijus Grigalavičius.

 

The verdict was initially expected to be heard in June, but was finally announced only on August 18.

Intentional theft?

 

The court found that V. Stončius knew that drivers must be paid the generally applicable minimum wage – not less than the rate set in the collective agreement for the freight transport sector.

 

The court found that the company manager also knew how drivers’ salaries were being reduced. It was determined that drivers were fictitiously employed part-time, although they actually worked much more.

 

“He knew how the company actually calculated wages. He also knew that the drivers consistently worked long hours, which resulted in their hourly pay being lower than the generally applicable rate set in the collective agreement,” the court’s ruling states.

 

According to the court, the Lithuanian should have been sentenced to 13 months in prison, but due to the lengthy trial, it was reduced by five months.

 

It was also announced that his accomplice, O. Grigalavičius, should have been sentenced to six months in prison. For the same reason as in the case of V. Stončius, his final sentence was reduced to 120 days.

Huge sums

 

The court examined civil claims filed on behalf of 39 drivers for unpaid wages, unpaid interest, insufficient unemployment benefits and legal expenses.

 

Stončius's defense lawyers asked for these civil claims to be dismissed, but the court did not take their arguments into account.

 

In total, V. Stončius was ordered by the court to pay almost 1.75 million Norwegian kroner (approximately 160 thousand euros).

 

This amount includes more than 650 thousand Norwegian kroner (almost 60 thousand euros) in unpaid wages and interest to 29 drivers, almost 700 thousand Norwegian kroner (about 64 thousand euros) to cover the legal costs of 39 drivers, 370 thousand Norwegian kroner (about 34 thousand euros) in compensation to one driver who was paid lower unemployment benefits due to his official salary being too low, and 30 thousand Norwegian kroner (about 2,700 euros) in legal costs.

 

O. Grigalavičius not only received a prison sentence, but was also ordered to pay 10 thousand Norwegian kroner (about 900 euros) in legal costs.

 

A signal to all employers

 

Prosecutor representative Andreas Heldal indicated in an e-mail that the prosecutor's office will examine the court's arguments in detail in the near future and then decide whether to appeal the verdict.

 

“The prosecution notes that both defendants were found guilty. The court also considered it a proven fact that a large number of drivers were systematically underpaid for several years, and the company gained an unjustified competitive advantage in the Norwegian freight market as a result,” said Heldal.

 

According to the prosecutor, the verdict proves that foreign drivers working in Norway are protected by law. They, like local drivers, are entitled to the established minimum wage and additional pay for overtime.

 

“The verdict sends a clear signal: employers who underpay drivers risk being held personally liable and being ordered to pay damages,” Heldal emphasized.

Defense attorneys review verdict

 

V. Stončius's attorney Elisabeth Roscher and O. Grigalavičius' attorney Brynjaras Ostgardas indicated that the extensive verdict raises a number of legal and factual issues, so the document must be carefully examined.

 

"It is important to emphasize that the verdict has not yet entered into force and may be appealed. We are currently examining the court's arguments in detail and evaluating all possible legal remedies, including the possibility of filing an appeal.

 

Therefore, it would be inappropriate to comment further on the content of the verdict for the time being," both lawyers say.

 

The verdict was adopted unanimously, but has not yet entered into force, as the two-week deadline for filing an appeal has not yet expired."