J.Narkevičius on the agreement of his ministry with a company of Russian citizens: I applied for the SSD

15 minutes announced on Wednesdaythat the Ministry of Transport and Communications plans to sign a contract with the recruitment company Pharmanet. This company would select the members of the Lietuvos Geležinkeliai Board. The same company served the presidential candidate and Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis during the 2019 elections: the company employed its electoral team. This business was managed by the famous photographer Marius Jovaiša for many years through an Estonian company, but now the owners of the company have changed and their control has been taken over by a Russian citizen Sergei Salikov. He is the head of the Russian employment and consulting company Ancor.

Ancor is reported to operate in Russia, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Belarus. And now, after taking over M. Jovaiša’s business, he is developing his activities in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. It is announced that the company has a network of 40 offices in various cities in these countries.

Conservative Žygimantas Pavilionis asked the Minister of Transport and Communications J.Narkevičius and Prime Minister S.Skvernelis about this agreement during government time on Thursday in the Seimas.

“As a person working in the field of foreign policy, I am horrified by the new daily facts about the opacity of your government and especially the transport sector, the possible Russian influences. As it turned out yesterday, the leaders of the” Lithuanian Railways ” They will be selected by a Russian company, which, as Marius Laurinavičius publicly stated today, is possibly related to Russia’s special services and “Rosatom”, which is preparing an Astrava bomb on the outskirts of Vilnius. ” Ž.Pavilionis spoke at the Seimas.

The Minister of Transport and Communications, J.Narkevičius, replied that he had already applied for the SSD regarding his ministry’s agreement with the company Pharmanet. Formerly the Ministry of Transport 15 minutes reported that the contract has not yet been signed and will not be signed until a response is received from the SSD. J.Narkevičius emphasized that the recruited recruitment agency will not be the sole participant in the selection of members of the Lithuanian Railways Board.

“The agency is there to attract competent people and offer a bigger list. <...> Nominated to a commission that is formed interdepartmentally, and that commission will select four potential candidates from those individuals. The Minister will then, in accordance with the established procedure, request the relevant institutions to verify the compliance of these candidates, also from the point of view of national security, “said J. Narkevičius.

“So this agency is not the final voter of the independent members,” summarized J. Narcevičius.

The minister said the recruiting agency had been selected through a public procurement process and involved seven companies. The company that offered the best price and won the tender withdrew the contract, and Pharmanet came in second on the list. 15 minutes‌ Knowledge, ‌ ‌ Maximum‌ ‌Contract‌‌‌‌Required‌ ‌Price‌‌‌‌‌‌14.5‌ ‌ thousand.‌ Euros.‌

“However, I will mention to you that I requested … after discovering whether it is true or false, but the information on the possible links with the services you mentioned, I asked the SSD, I asked the Government, where the National Security Commission is also located. , to evaluate the information in the media “. J.Narkevičius said.

S.Skvernelis: if such information is available, no contract will be signed with the company

Prime Minister S. Skvernelis said in Seimas that special services had to report potential threats to the ministry in time.

“All acquisitions are carried out in accordance with the procedure established by the Public Procurement Law and the contracting authority evaluates various criteria. This is usually the lowest price. If threats to our national security are known, our special services must inform the contracting authority in due course of the supplier’s unreliability, risks and everything else. If this is not done, then there are no other conditions or ways to remove one or the other provider from the process, ”said S. Skvernelis.

The Prime Minister said the contract with the company may not be signed: “If such information exists, I believe it is also available to the Department of Homeland Security, it will give a response to the Ministry of Transport and the contract will not be signed with this company.”

S. Skvernelis said the ministries do not have the status of a subject of operational activities or the status of criminal intelligence.

“That information must be provided by someone, the Ministry of Transport does not have the authority to carry out intelligence. I believe that when such events are clarified … In order not to have them, there must be a warning in time,” said the Prime Minister.

Suggests that the Seimas Anti-Corruption Commission be interested

Wednesday on my own appeal to SSD This agreement of the Ministry of Transport was also announced by the members of the Conservative Committee for National Security and Defense (NSGC).

On Thursday, Seimas conservative Agnė Bilotaitė announced that it had asked the Seimas Anti-Corruption Commission for a proposal to investigate the Ministry of Transport and Communications’ intentions to sign a contract with the recruitment company Pharmanet.

“The success of this company in public procurement tenders announced by the government raises questions. Another equally important issue is how the ministry carries out the selection of heads of state-owned companies. So far, we have not heard any response regarding the competition for the manager of the port of Klaipeda, who won a candidate who did not even participate in the initial selection. Will the selection of the Board of AB Lietuvos Geležinkeliai also be made on the basis of political sympathies and personal friendships? – A.Bilotaitė It is quoted in the press release.

A.Bilotaitė also proposes to the Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate the LRT investigative material on the fact that the Minister of Transport and Communications J.Narkevičius, while holding the position of Deputy Director of the Administration of the Municipality of Vilnius City, possibly made home repairs at the expense of companies that have won municipal procurement bids.