Post-election “cleanup”: Minister M.Skuodis has fired three leaders appointed by his predecessor J.Narkevičius | Deal

In a press release issued on Tuesday, M. Skuodis claimed that M. Belūnas had been fired after Oro Navigacijos’s board of directors expressed mistrust of the director, differing in their views on the implementation of the company’s objectives, operational efficiency and investments.

“I have no reason to distrust the company’s board of directors. Therefore, taking into account the long and inherited situation in the company, which may harm the interests of national security, the stagnation of the implementation of state expectations, the long-standing management resistance, the growth of resistance and employees, I decided to dismiss the manager, “the minister said.

M.Beliūnas began working at Oro Navigacija in 2018 as an advisor to the CEO. He then worked as head of the company’s Safety, Quality and Safety Department.

In April of last year, he became the acting director of the company. After winning the announced competition for the position of director of the company, former Minister of Transport and Communications Jaroslav Narkevičius was appointed to lead the company in September.

Details on manual firing15 minutes M.Skuodis said that in December, just starting to work, he noticed a strong conflict between the director of Oro Navigacija and the board.

“I had to hear accusations from both sides, and finally the board described the whole situation in writing and after several conversations reported that it no longer sees an opportunity to work with this director,” the minister said.

“As I have no reason to doubt the competence and independence of the company’s board of directors, to end this long-standing conflict, I simply made the decision to choose the side of the board,” he added.

M.Skuodis stated that he had discussed his dismissal with M.Beliūnas on Tuesday morning and said he was happy with his “constructive reaction and perception of the situation”.

M.Beliūnas 15 minutes in a comment, he said he respected the minister’s decision, “despite the biased and biased evaluation and presentation of information.”

The communications minister said he simply wanted to end internal business in conflicts that had already become personalities.

According to M.Skuodis, the last working day of M.Beliūnas at Oro navigacija is Tuesday, and a new manager will be sought with the help of an external recruitment agency.

Or the director or the board

Chairman of the Council Dangirutis Janušas 15 minutes He said tensions between the board and the director had peaked a few weeks ago, even though the disagreements had taken place much earlier.

At the end of December, the Board of Directors did not approve Oro Navigacijos’ strategic plan of activities prepared by M. Belūnas and updated annually.

“In our opinion, that plan did not respond to the 15 minutes) Expectations. We lacked a broader approach to sustainability, efficiency and investment policy, ”said D. Jonušas.

According to him, the strategic business plan of the company is finally approved by the Minister, and the opinion of the Board is indicative.

“Perhaps our arguments were stronger in this case. The process for collecting opinions from the ministry itself was transparent, positions from all interested parties were collected,” said the expert in business consulting.

According to him, the decision to remove the director was taken by the minister himself, the board does not decide, but the dispute over the strategic action plan basically showed which side of the conflict M.Skuodis trusts.

“We have told the minister that if a strategic action plan is approved, we will have to resign because, in our opinion, the minister should not approve such a plan,” said the president of the Air Navigation Board.

“We cannot tell the minister what he can do, but we have just expressed positions on the plan. On the other hand, it is obvious that if we do not support the important strategic document, the plan, then we do not support the activities of the manager ”, he added.

According to Mr. Jonušas, the tension between the board and the director of the company has lasted for some time, even while he was working as a temporary manager. For example, the board of directors was not satisfied with the data provided by company management for the audit.

“This is not the first time that the board expresses its dissatisfaction with the manager. It has been written to the Ministry before, even in June last year, when the board was removed from risk management,” said the president of the board.

See the president’s hand

The dismissal of the owner of Oro Navigacijos during the Government’s working month is the third public announcement by the Minister of Transport and Communications regarding personnel policy.

Immediately after starting work, M. Skuodis withdrew from the board of the state-owned Lithuanian Railways, and later refused to appoint a former public relations adviser to J. Narkevičius to the Head of Communication, although he had previously won a contest for this position.

Virginijus Valentinavičius, an associate professor at the Institute of Communication at Mykolas Romeris University, said he was not surprised by such decisions.

The minister has stated that he will review some dubious decisions. That has been promised and is being fulfilled. ” 15 minutes said the expert.

According to him, implementing such changes will probably not be difficult for M. Skuodis because the public perceives that the Minister is cleansing himself of the ill-valued legacy of J. Narkevičius.

V. Valentineinavičius even stated that M.Skuodis could have coordinated similar decisions with President Gitanas Nausėda before his appointment as head of the Ministry of Transport and Communications.

“In her time, G.Nausėda bit her nose a bit with J.Narkevičius, not realizing that she was appointing a bad minister. Then it soon became apparent, but there was nothing I could do. “These complaints are probably the rest, and the president, as we can see, takes their complaints seriously,” said the political observer.

Oro Navigacija provides air traffic management, communications, navigation and surveillance information services and air navigation information throughout the airspace of the Republic of Lithuania, as well as in the territorial waters and airspace of the Baltic Sea, which is part of the Vilnius Flight Information Region.

The state company also oversees the activities of the Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Center, the organization and coordination of search and rescue operations in the event of an air accident.

Is there someone else waiting in line?

When asked if the personnel change that is taking place in the Ministry of Transport and Communications and its subsidiaries can be called cleaning of the people appointed by the predecessor, M. Skuodis said that he did not want to spend too much time looking at the past, but that he was reviewing decisions that raised doubts. The transport minister has said he is determined to act if he sees questionable solutions.

He argued that a good reputation is important not only for top executives but also for board members of state-owned companies, but the minister did not elaborate on what he meant by the statement.

“So far, I cannot confirm or deny anything,” said M. Skuodis, when asked if he intends to take over other managers or boards administered by the ministry in the near future.

“If I see certain circumstances or doubts, I will definitely make decisions.” They will not be impulsive, but they will be well thought out, discussed and accepted after listening to all parties, “he said.