Last year, the Lithuanian Bank Association brought together 200,000 members. euros, and who did you spend – does not say

“Mr. Zalatorius, being the president of the LBA and capable of acting on behalf of the association as a lobbyist, did so while defending the interests of the banks, but by running for the LVK president, he was potentially included in a scheme That potentially criminal scheme is a reward for the LVK president to represent his interests, and those actions are currently being treated as criminal acts, “Žydrūnas Bartkus, Head of the Special Investigation Service, said at a press conference on Tuesday.

According to him, the application of the law will explain V. Sutkus’ 400 thousand origin. Part of these funds are suspected to have been obtained illegally. What part, law enforcement does not disclose. The amount that could have been transferred to the president of M. Zalatorius LVK as a bribe is also not indicated.

V. Sutkus himself says that the police have found up to 10,000 cash in his home. and taxes paid on all income received.

However, V. Sutkus was not able to go into detail because he has signed that the cases will not be publicly commented. Zalatorius also does not comment extensively on the allegations made against him, only saying that he was, is, and will be a decent person.

The LBA collected specific contributions from members last year

However, it would be very strange if LBA President M. Zalatorius had bought the “representation services” of the Confederation of Business chief V. Sutkus out of his own pocket. Rather, money from the association or its members could have been used for this, because, as STT suspects, solutions that were important to all banks may have been sought.

And what do LBA’s financial statements show? The fact that last year, unlike previous years, the association was not limited to the traditional collection of membership fees, from which it raised 577,143 euros, but also received specific contributions. Not much or little, another 204,998 euros.

“Why did the LBA need to collect specific contributions last year and for whom?” 15 minutes Valerija Kiguolienė, Head of Communication for the LBA asked.

“The administrative costs of the Lithuanian Bank Association are financed from the membership fee collected, and the ongoing projects and initiatives are carried out from specific contributions allocated to them,” he replied, but did not elaborate.

Then we repeatedly asked the following questions:

• What projects and initiatives were there in 2019 that required specific contributions that were not needed in previous years?
• Which members of the association and how much contributions did they pay?
• Was this amount allocated to LVK or V. Sutkus to strengthen representation of LBA interests?

V. Kiguolienė declined to reply specifically.

“The projects and initiatives implemented by the association are mentioned in the annual activity reports, which are publicly available on our website. The Lithuanian Association of Banks is one of the first associations in the country to start publishing detailed reports on its activities, “he wrote.

The report states that last year a European questionnaire was conducted on money, a study was presented on the basis of which the Lithuanian financial education index was calculated, the association carried out a Smart-ID guide campaign, participated in the “Freedom Picnic” and “Exactly” idea festivals.

The association’s highlights include the fact that in December the association appealed to the president to veto an income tax bill, which would impose an additional 5 percent tax on banks and credit unions , but the president signed the law.

The association reported in its financial report that it won 37 thousand for the marketing campaign carried out in 2019. EUR, which in turn supported the public All Ideas (3 thousand euros) and Freedom Television (4 thousand euros).

LVK members’ fees are lower

Interestingly, LBA membership fees for the association and specific contributions significantly exceed the membership fees charged by the largest association representing the company, LVK.

In its financial activity report for 2019, the LVA stated that it had received a total of 1,814,432 euros in revenue last year. Of this, only € 231,494 in membership fees and specific contributions.

The association also stated that it had received almost 30,000. EUR support from six companies: Legalum Business Alliance (EUR 11,800), Publicum Group (EUR 1,400), Consulting and Economic Research (EUR 2,415), Biotechpharma (EUR 3,000), ART21 (EUR 7,000)) and the Bulk Cargo Terminal (4000 EUR).

In 2019, the LVK indicated that it had received the largest amount of support funds from the European Union, Lithuania and abroad.

Incidentally, the police suspect that one of the EU-funded projects implemented by the LVK was also not transparent. According to STT, V. Sutkus chose a private consulting and training company as a project partner, whose director, acting together with the director of a private information technology company, personally paid part of the funds received during the project to V. Sutkus as a bribe.

The pre-trial investigation is supervised and directed by prosecutors from the Department of Organized Crime and Corruption Investigation of the Attorney General’s Office.