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“As for the impact, it was known that not only the Minister of Transport, but also the heads of other institutions (Employment Service), officials of some ministries were trying to exert pressure. They reacted to that. That reaction was mixed, ending in some lawsuits.
We have seen such signs and as a result there have been no contacts with certain individuals from individual organizations for over a year. This has been repeatedly discussed in informal meetings, it has been said that there can be no contact with those people trying to obtain favorable solutions in this way. All the ministers, and the one you mentioned (Rokas Masiulis – Delfi), followed that. Probably a wide variety of interest groups are trying to influence politicians (…). It is a shame that the impact does not always receive the attention of the police, ”said S. Skvernelis.
He assured that the decision regarding Masiulis Sutkus had not been made
The Prime Minister also clarified that a year or more ago, “in the presence of the Government of that composition with respect to the behavior of this person (thoughts V. Sutkus -” Delfi “) both towards ministers and ministries, the individual bodies Under the ministries, decisions were made not to have any contact with this person. “
“This does not mean not having contacts at the ministry level with the association itself. We followed that decision. Also, when this person actively participated in the political campaign for the presidential elections, I also had to participate, it was not possible to speak of any type of contact or joint cooperation, “said S. Skvernelis.
The Head of Government assured that V. Sutkus did not influence the decision on the replacement of R. Masiulis.
“Changes in government are political decisions. Both the Interior Ministry and the Ministry of Transport and Communications, these areas of government were transferred to our coalition partners, the Polish Lithuanian Election Campaign, the Union of Christian Families. And that It was the main thing. I hope that Mr. Sutkus has not influenced any other institution involved in the appointment of one or another minister in this process, “said S. Skvernelis.
Ask that the situation is not absolute
At the same time, governments stressed the importance of not absolutizing this story and disagreed with the Bar Association’s claim that the measures taken were redundant.
“The police must do their job. I am glad that they are working. The scope of those measures is determined by the prosecutor and the pre-trial investigative authority. It is only in this story that it should not be absolved that all associations are behaving in some way in violation of the law. We are talking about individuals, and the responsibility of those individuals must be assessed, “said S. Skvernelis.
He assured that communication with the social partners must be maintained.
“However, there will be another good opportunity to return to the amendments to the Lobbying Law, and those discussions where they already existed, when the government’s proposals were not accepted. Apparently, they are reappearing, and perhaps those arguments will be stronger.” S. Skvernelis said.
To seek the removal of R. Masiulis from his post
As previously announced, the Attorney General’s Office asked the court to order the arrest of Valdas Sutkus, president of the Lithuanian Business Confederation, who was detained in a large-scale bribery case, on Wednesday afternoon, and the Court of Vilnius city district began to listen to the request of pre-trial investigation officers. The court did not grant the request.
On Wednesday, the STT clarified that accusations were made against 6 people: Valdas Sutkas, president of the Lithuanian Business Confederation, Mantas Zalator, president of the Lithuanian Association of Banks, CEOs of two private road construction companies, head of a private consulting and training company and head of a private information technology company.
STT does not name these companies, but BNS has previously confirmed that Juozas Aleksa, CEO of Šiaulių plentas, and Aldas Rusevičius, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Kauno tiltų, have been arrested in this case.
According to the STT, the available data reasonably suggests that the President of the Lithuanian Business Confederation, Valdas Sutkus, while serving in the Confederation and representing the interests of its members and other business entities, may have illegally obtained monetary consideration for his impact on the adoption of various laws relevant to commercial entities.
According to the investigation, the president of the Lithuanian Business Confederation, Valdas Sutkus, may have accepted and accepted a bribe from the president of the Lithuanian Association of Banks, M. Zalatorius, for representing V. Sutkus in late 2019 when discussing the 2020 budget package, bank property laws, and corporate income tax. Additionally, based on research data, V. Sutkus may have accepted bribes from managers of private road construction companies.
As suspected, V. Sutkus, possibly for illegal remuneration, deliberately organized, compiled, and publicly provided negative biased information, with the aim of undermining the authority, business, and political reputation of then-Minister of Transportation and Communications Rokas Masiulis. In this way, the objective was to eliminate R. Masiulis from the position of Minister of Transport and Communications.
It is also suspected that during the implementation of the EU-funded project of the Lithuanian Business Confederation, V. Sutkus chose a private consulting and training company as a partner of the project, the director of which, acting together with the director of a private technology company of the information, he bribed part of the project. paid in person to V. Sutkus.
The Special Investigation Service and the Office of the Prosecutor General reported that around 70 searches and seizures were carried out on Tuesday in various parts of Lithuania at the suspect’s homes, workplaces and other places. Such a criminal scheme is suspected to have existed for a long time. “The manifestations of simulated lobbying revealed by this pre-trial investigation are the intolerable desire for profit, for personal gain under the guise of existing powers and influence. This situation shows once again that further discussion is necessary, seeking a solution how lobbying activities should be carried out in a transparent way, ”said Žydrūnas Bartkus, Director of STT.
“It is clear that any non-transparent, dubious, or illegal influence on legislative processes, where specific legislation potentially becomes a means to satisfy the interests of certain stakeholders rather than the general public, is a serious threat to well-being The question arises as to whether such action does not cause significant damage to the state budget, or whether it does not unduly increase the tax burden or other financial burden on our citizens. Therefore, after receiving such data, which are currently in the case, we must conduct a thorough investigation and answer all questions that arise regarding the legality of such action, “said Prosecutor General Evaldas Pašilis.
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