Vilnius (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Lithuania’s Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas announced his resignation from his role as prime minister and also the leadership of the Social Democratic Party on Thursday amid an ongoing probe into potential financial offenses by companies connected to him.
In his statement, Paluckas said,
“I informed the president about an hour ago that I took the decision to resign from my duties as the prime minister.”
He also said that he was resigning from his position as the head of the Social Democratic Party.
“Despite my decision to leave my current duties, I will continue to defend my honour and dignity and I’m waiting for the conclusions of the investigations, which I’m sure will separate the facts from insinuations,”
he stated.
Investigations into Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas’ financial dealings showed a series of mismanagement or questionable dealings that date back more than a decade, and more recently.
What financial links triggered the ongoing investigations?
Media analysis indicates that Paluckas’ old company, Sagerta, received significant loans from a company named Uni Trading that is connected to businessman Darijus Vilčinskas. Sagerta was operating at a loss, and not all loans were acknowledged in Paluckas’ legal declarations. Sagerta had its shareholder registration changed many times, and the registration of the changes was delayed, raising issues of transparency.
On Thursday, Lithuania’s Financial Crimes Investigation Service (FNTT) raided the company owned by Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas’s sister-in-law, Virginija Paluckienė, and Dankora.
Dankora had received nearly €173,000 in EU funds in 2024 for electric vehicle and boat charging infrastructure. In early 2025, Dankora had a public procurement process to buy battery systems and inverters, which Garnis won. Paluckas owned 49% of Garnis, and this raised problems of conflict of interest because Garnis was the only bidder, and they were the beneficiary of the EU funds through the contract with Dankora.
What past conviction has resurfaced in this context?
Paluckas was previously convicted of abuse of office while serving as the director of the Vilnius City municipal administration. In the 2012 criminal case that became known as the “rat poison scandal,” Paluckas was convicted of illegally manipulating the bidding process for rat extermination in the city of Vilnius by illegally favouring the highest bidder. He was fined €16 500, but declined to pay a substantial part of that fine for roughly a decade until earlier this month.
How does this scandal compare to past resignations?
Likewise, in the past, in 1996, Lithuania’s Prime Minister Adolfas Šleževičius was forced to resign over a major scandal related to his withdrawing of his personal savings from a bank shortly prior to its collapse, as well as preferential treatment and mismanagement connected to the banking crisis.
