In Lithuania, the Chief Official Ethics Commission (VTEK) on Wednesday decided to initiate an investigation into a potential conflict of interest involving Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas. The move follows reports that a company partially owned by him received a preferential loan from the national development bank, ILTE.
As noted by the commission’s chairman, Gediminas Sakalauskas, “the subject of the investigation will be the actions and conduct of the Prime Minister during the government meeting.”
Three requests regarding this matter were submitted to VTEK – one by the Prime Minister himself, one by the Seimas Anti-Corruption Commission led by conservative Arvydas Anušauskas, and another by the opposition Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats (TS-LKD). On Tuesday, Paluckas reiterated that he has not been involved in managing his companies since 2020, and suggested that all questions be addressed to the companies’ managers, not to him as a shareholder.
He also stated that calls for him to take responsibility and resign over the loan to his company are “baseless accusations.”
Meanwhile, the Special Investigation Service (STT) announced that it is evaluating the information published in the media, and ILTE Bank has promised to conduct an internal audit within a week.
A recent investigation by the journalistic center Siena and Laisvės TV revealed that the company Garnis, which plans to manufacture battery systems, received a €200,000 preferential loan from ILTE at a time when Paluckas was already serving as Prime Minister. He owns 49% of the company’s shares.
At the same time – in February and March – the government, with Paluckas’ participation, made decisions affecting ILTE Bank: amendments to the law regulating the national development bank were submitted to the Seimas, and borrowing limits were approved for central government institutions, including ILTE itself.
Paluckas also partially (51%) owns another company – Emus. This firm was ineligible for a preferential loan due to its long-standing operations. Garnis also would not have qualified if it were formally part of the same group as Emus.
Therefore, there are public suspicions that the company Garnis may have been created specifically to obtain the loan.
