Personal liability for drivers’ unpaid wages: former Vlantana Norge boss sentenced in Norway

The Vlantana Norge case has unfolded over several years. After growing rapidly to become one of Norway’s larger transport operators, the company came under scrutiny over the employment conditions of Lithuanian drivers. Its licence was later revoked, and the company was declared bankrupt in 2020. A Norwegian court has now ruled on the former managing director’s personal liability.

Eight-month prison sentence

Norwegian media report that the Romerike and Glåmdal District Court sentenced Vladas Stončius junior on 18 August for breaching several legal provisions. According to NRK, the case involved wage underpayments affecting around 200 employees. The former Vlantana Norge managing director received an eight-month custodial sentence.

The court also ordered him to pay around NOK 1.7 million in compensation to the employees, equivalent to approximately €160,000. Frifagbevegelse.no reports that the judgment is not yet legally binding and can be appealed.

From rapid growth to licence loss

Vlantana Norge entered the Norwegian market in 2012 and expanded its transport operations quickly. At one point, it was Norway’s tenth-largest transport company and one of the country’s fastest-growing carriers. Norwegian authorities later identified irregularities in the recording of working time and the payment of Lithuanian drivers. NRK reported that the company falsified working-time records and systematically failed to pay drivers everything they were owed.

The company ultimately lost its licence, and it was declared bankrupt in 2020. Norwegian media had already reported police action in 2019–2020 over suspected worker exploitation. Investigators searched the company’s premises, froze bank accounts and seized seven trucks.

52 drivers had already secured around €1.84 million

The latest ruling is not the first Norwegian court decision involving Vlantana Norge. In 2021, a district court ordered the company to compensate 52 drivers. The decision was later upheld by Norway’s Court of Appeal.

Vlantana Norge was ordered to pay the drivers NOK 13.4 million plus interest, bringing the total to around NOK 20 million, or approximately €1.84 million. That amounted to nearly €36,000 for each of the 52 drivers.

The Norwegian Court of Appeal also found that, as managing director, Vladas Stončius was personally liable for paying the compensation awarded. He was additionally ordered to cover approximately €630,000 in legal costs.

In its earlier ruling, the court described an extensive system for creating false working-time records for drivers. Those records were then used to calculate pay based on minimum rates.

Links to Lithuania’s Vlantana

Vlantana Norge was connected to the Lithuanian company Vlantana through its sole shareholder, Vladas Stončius senior. Around 160 people worked for the Norwegian company. According to figures cited in the report, the Lithuanian Vlantana recorded revenue of €360 million in its latest reporting period, up 13.9% from €316 million in the previous period.

At the same time, its net profit fell by 16%, from €7.5 million to €6.3 million. Vladas Stončius senior is listed as the company’s beneficial owner.

Trans.info contacted Vlantana for comment on the ruling against the former Vlantana Norge managing director and on its position regarding the Norwegian courts’ findings concerning driver working-time records and pay.

Sabina Chochrina, Vlantana’s chief executive, stressed that the Lithuanian company and Vlantana Norge were separate entities with independent management teams and separate fleets. She said Vlantana Norge was not a subsidiary of Vlantana but belonged to one of its shareholders.

Chochrina added:

The Lithuanian company was not a party to the proceedings in Norway, so I cannot comment on the court’s ruling.

Regarding the findings on working-time records, Vlantana’s chief executive said she could speak only about the practices used by the Lithuanian company since 2021, when she took over its management:

Since I joined the company in 2021, its business and management processes have been comprehensively reviewed. Control and compliance procedures were strengthened, and processes were digitised. I believe this work was completed properly, as reflected in feedback from our partners and the results of independent audits, which found no irregularities or procedural gaps.

She added that the Lithuanian company’s systems for recording working time and calculating pay are now digitalised and automated.

Chochrina stressed:

The current Lithuanian company is protected against the type of situation identified in Norway several years ago. Our working-time and payroll systems are digitalised and automated, allowing us to operate with maximum transparency in this area.

Chochrina also said she did not want to assess the processes and practices used before 2021. In her view, those matters should be addressed by the company’s management at the time.