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M. Zalatorius and V. Sutkus. VŽ collage.
On Tuesday, police arrested the president of the Lithuanian Business Confederation, Valdas Sutkas, and the president of the Lithuanian Bank Association, Mantas Zalatoris, the Prosecutor General’s Office announced.
Added comment from LBA spokesperson
According to the report, they were detained by the Special Investigation Service (STT) and the Office of the Attorney General in an investigation into alleged large-scale bribery, bribery, influence peddling, extortion and forgery of documents.
“During the investigation, the president of the Lithuanian Business Confederation and the president of the Lithuanian Association of Banks were detained,” the prosecution announced.
More information about the study is promised at a press conference.
LBA spokeswoman Valerija Kiguolienė told BNS that M. Zalatorius had been detained at his home because the association’s employees were currently working remotely. She said she had no other information than what was released.
“It was a completely unexpected event for us, like a thunderstorm from a clear sky. In the current situation, we want to ensure that transparency is one of the essential standards of our association’s activities, we will cooperate with the institutions and provide them with all the necessary data and information, ”V. Kiguolienė told BNS.
To her knowledge, no searches were conducted at the association’s facilities.
M. Zalatorius, 47, has led the LBA since May 2017, when he replaced Stasys Kropas, who has led the association since 2008. Since 2018, he has also been Vice President of the Lithuanian Industrial Confederation.
Before joining the LBA, M. Zalatorius had won the competition for the head of the export promotion agency Versli Lietuva, but he resigned from this position because, as he claimed, he received an offer to work for the LBA during the competition.
M. Zalatorius, graduated in Philology, Economics and Business Administration, has worked on the Boards of Directors of the Visaginas Nuclear Power Plant (2012-2013), Unicef Lietuvos, Lietuvos Energija, KB Components, Scandic Hotels, in addition to the Council of Commerce of Sweden. , worked with the largest companies in northern Europe, helping them to enter the Baltic market, advised on the privatization of the then Lietuvos Telekomas, the sale of commercial televisions and hotels.
In 2015 M. Zalatorius received the Order of Merit for the Kingdom of Sweden.
V. Sutkus has been the President of the Lithuanian Business Confederation since 2010. He previously worked for the Lithuanian Industrial Confederation, the Lithuanian Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Crafts, and the companies Achema Group and Fima.
In the past, V. Sutkus also worked as Director of Corporate Affairs at MG Baltic, and during his privatization of alcoholic beverage producer Stumbras, he served as public economic advisor to then President Rolandas Paksas.
Last year, during the presidential election campaign, V. Sutkus mediated a meeting between the then Commander of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, Jonas Vytautas Žukas, and the presidential candidate Gitanas Nausėda, and these circumstances were criticized for the possible politicization of the Forces. Armed. After G. Nausėda became president, J. V. Žukas was appointed his national security adviser.
At the time, J. V. Zukas stated that V. Sutkus had offered to meet with G. Nausėda as an old acquaintance and not as a representative of the businessmen.
The pre-trial investigation is carried out by the Special Investigation Service and the Attorney General’s Office.
Reproduction of information from the BNS news agency in the media and on websites without the written consent of UAB “BNS” is prohibited.
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