Amid an ongoing investigation into the activities of his company, Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas has announced his resignation as both Prime Minister and leader of the Social Democratic Party.
Paluckas’ decision comes after Saulius Skvernelis, leader of the For Lithuania Democratic Union and Speaker of the Seimas, announced that his party would leave the ruling coalition if the prime minister did not resign. Skvernelis met with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda on the 30th of July to discuss the political crisis.
Tensions were heightened on Thursday morning, the 31st of July, by a raid by the Lithuanian Financial Crimes Investigation Service (FNTT) at Paluckas’ sister-in-law’s company, Dankora. The company received European Union funding and used it to purchase battery systems from Garnis, a company partly owned by the prime minister.
Nausėda confirmed that he was informed of Paluckas’ decision to resign and said that the prime minister had made the only right decision. The president had previously given Paluckas two weeks to either respond to the growing public outcry or leave office. Paluckas used this time for vacation, but in the meantime events have developed rapidly.
Sources among the Social Democrats report that three scenarios are being considered.
One is to promote Juozas Olekas, Deputy Speaker of the Seimas, to the position of prime minister; the second scenario involves proposing other party politicians for the position; and as a third option, the possibility of different individuals holding the positions of prime minister and party leader is not being ruled out.
The political scandal in which Paluckas is involved was triggered by an analytical report by Laisves TV and the journalism center Siena, which revealed that Garnis received a loan worth 200 thousand euros from the national development bank at a time when Paluckas was already the prime minister. It also became known that the company Sagerta, previously owned by the prime minister, received large loans from Uni Trading and has not been able to repay them.
Paluckas is also involved in a pretty shady real estate transaction – he once purchased an apartment in the center of Vilnius, on a plot of land that he supervised as a senior civil servant of the Vilnius City Council.
The latest incident is related to his sister-in-law’s company Dankora, which invested most of the EU funds it received in purchasing products from Garnis. However, after public dissatisfaction, the funds were returned.
Paluckas denies that he acted improperly. Before he went on leave, the Social Democrats released a statement expressing their support for the Prime Minister.
Read the full article in English here: https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/2629127/lithuanian-pm-paluckas-resigning-amid-allegations-of-shady-business-dealings
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