The Vilnius Council, which “bleeds” after the Seimas elections, was renewed: nine new members were sworn in

They became members of the Seimas

After the Seimas elections, nine members of different factions left the Vilnius Council. Mostly from the Lithuanian Christian Democratic parties of the Union of Freedom, Labor and Homeland belonging to the ruling majority.

“I am glad that strong self-government raises up a new generation of politicians: brave, hard-working and strong. I have no doubt that the members of the Council, who have now become members of the Seimas, will now work responsibly for the people. from Lithuania, and the new city council will work even more for the benefit of the citizens, guarantee the continuity of work and spare no effort for Vilnius. All ideas can be implemented, “said Vilnius Mayor Remigijus Šimašius.

You can see the meeting where the new council members are sworn in here:

The faction of the Freedom Party, which was left with up to five representatives, was the one that exploded the most. Former Deputy Mayor Vytautas Mitalas has already become Vice President of Seimas. Kaspars Adomaitis is nominated as a candidate for the Minister of Transport, Evelina Dobrovolska, as Minister of Justice.

Former members of this faction Monika Ošmianskienė and Tomas Vytautas Raskevičius, who became the vice president of the faction, by whom the former adviser to Mayor Remigijus Šimašius Ieva Pakarklytė was elected, were also elected to the Seimas.

They were replaced on the capital council by Tomas Gulbinas, who should also become deputy mayor, Andrius Katinas, Rita Balčiūnienė, Domininkas Velička and Brigita Guobė, who resigned as deputy directors of the administration. She also became the leader of the Freedom Group.

In addition, a member of the ruling majority was expelled to the Seimas by the Lithuanian Christian Democratic faction Union of the Fatherland: Arūnas Valinskas was replaced by Vytautas Budreika.

The Labor Party faction is also changing: Ieva Kačinskaitė-Urbonienė and Aidas Gedvilas joined the Seimas, and Larisa Dmitrijeva and Sergejus Popovas came to the Vilnius Council.

In the small group of Lithuanian peasants and greens, one member is also changing: Taurimas Valys swore in place of Lukas Savickas.

Congratulations and happy birthday

The oaths were carried out in accordance with the security requirements: the sworn members of the council did not shake the hand of either the representative of the CEC or the mayor, after each oath, the table is disinfected and replaced with a transparent curtain, which rests on the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania.

A member of the council, D. Velička, was congratulated on two occasions: not only did he become a new member of the council, but he also celebrated his anniversary, for which he received flowers for it. “For the first time in my life, I will bring so many roses to my wife,” the new board member joked gratefully.

On the occasion of his birthday, R. Balčiūnienė was also congratulated, who was first removed from the post of deputy director of administration by the council, and was later sworn in as a member of the council.

In short, about the new board members.

Since 2019, R. Balčiūnienė, former deputy director of the Vilnius city municipality administration, a member of the Freedom Party, graduated from the University of Education and obtained a master’s degree in geography, a geography professor methodologist category.

Vytautas Budreika, 32, a member of the National Union – Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party, graduated from the VU Institute of International Relations and Political Science and obtained a master’s degree in comparative politics. The politician is a volunteer of the National Defense Volunteer Force, a member of the Union of Rifles.

Larisa Dmitrijeva, a member of the Labor Party, is not a newcomer to the Vilnius City Council; worked in 2007–2011. He was a member of the Municipal Council of the city of Vilnius, and in 2012-2016 he was a member of the Seimas. The politician graduated in Law from Vilnius University and currently works at the Santara Gymnasium in Vilnius.

Tom Gulbin, a sworn in council candidate for deputy mayor, became a council member for the second time in the same term. Last year he served as chair of the council’s Environment and Energy Committee, until he had to resign as a council member in February 2020 due to his intention to return to the diplomatic service. T.Gulbinas graduated from Vilnius University Law School, studied at Lyon University Law School (France) in 1993–1994, has over twenty years (1993–2014) experience working in the Lithuanian Diplomatic Service, worked in Brussels in 1995–2000, 2007– 2010 – Washington. From 2015 to 2018, he served as Google’s spokesperson for the governments of Central and Eastern Europe. March – August 2020 was Bolt’s head of micromobility policy.

Brigita Guobė, a member of the Freedom Party, has a BA in Political Science and a MA in Diplomacy and International Relations from Vytautas Magnus University. From 2007 to 2013 he worked for international companies in Estonia and the Netherlands. Public assistant to the Vilnius councilor since 2017. He is a professional felinologist. Actively promote gift ideas.

This is not the first time that Andrius Katinas, a member of the Freedom Party, works in the Vilnius City Council for the period 2015-2018. The politician is a graduate of the University of Education and currently performs an individual activity.

Sergei Popov, a member of the Labor Party, has a law degree from Mykolas Romeris University. He is currently the director of Juniver, a member of the Chamber of Bankruptcy Administrators and a member of the Union of Lithuanian Esperantists.

Taurimas Valys, 38, graduated from Vilnius University with a BA in International Relations and Political Science, and went on to earn a Master of Laws from Mykolas Romeris University. He currently works at Vilnius University as Associate Professor of Financial Program Associations, Director of the VU Business School Lifelong Learning Project Group, Expert in Entrepreneurship, Project Finance and Business Analysis, and Startup Finance Mentor.

Domininkas Velička, a member of the Freedom Party, graduated from Vilnius University with a degree in physics and was a member of the Seimas in 2000-2004. The politician has written several hundred articles on the culture of wine, lecturing on the culture of drinks.

The vote on the appointment of a deputy mayor to the council is scheduled for the December meeting.