The conservative politician says that under these circumstances, Paluckas' resignation from the post of Prime Minister should be a natural decision.
'First of all, we should acknowledge that we live in a time when events become normalised so quickly. Let's not forget that this is the first time in history that we have a convicted Prime Minister. Convicted. Convicted of abuse of office. (...) If a person has abused his office once...
How can I put it – I don't know if you can be sure that a person won't try to abuse their power again, ' Šimonytė told journalists in the Seimas on Tuesday, referring to the 2012
'In my opinion, this (resignation – ELTA) would be the natural thing to do because the shadow is huge,' she said.
Although, in the politician's opinion, Paluckas should resign, the former Head of Government believes that the ruling majority will seek to normalise this scandal involving companies partly owned by the Prime Minister, in her words, just as his criminal record has disappeared.
'Those involved hope that, just as the Prime Minister's conviction and sentence were normalised within a month and a half, this story will also be normalised within a month and a half,' said the representative of the Conservative faction.
'I think that state institutions also have a role to play here because there are certain formalities – for example, European Union legal precedents on related companies and the possibility of receiving European Union funds in situations where companies are related,' said the MP, dismissing Paluckas' explanations that the companies he partly owns are not related as a search for fools'. Paluckas explains that the companies he partly owns are not related, calling it 'looking for fools.'
She also ironically noted that if such a scandal had occurred during her term as Head of the Government, the entire cabinet would probably have been held politically responsible.
'If this were Ingrida Šimonytė Government, Ingrida Šimonytė would already be nailed to all the crosses in Lukiškių Square with demands that she resigns and that everyone else resign,' she said, adding that she had sought to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest throughout her political career.
The Prime Minister's explanations were not convincing
Although more new details about this story are emerging in the public domain, Paluckas continues to tell journalists that Garnis, a company he partly owns, received a preferential ILTE loan legally and that there are no links between this business and another company he controls, Emus.
Assessing the prime minister's explanations, Šimonytė says that this resembles the logic of ‘vsio zakonno’ (lit. everything is legal).
„There was a classic phrase in Lithuanian politics, „vsio zakonno“ (everything is legal), which is, unfortunately, the logic behind the actions of some politicians. These are people who say that until you are convicted, you are innocent. In politics, as you well know, you don't even need a court or a conviction. Much less is needed for a politician to be forced to end their career. But you know, when you accidentally become Prime Minister, you will probably do a lot to remain in that position accidentally,“ added the former Prime Minister.
Calls on Paluckas to explain whether Garnis was established because of the ILTE loan
A joint investigation by Laisvės TV and the investigative journalism centre Siena published last week raises questions not only about a possible conflict of interest involving Paluckas, as the loan was granted to the Prime Minister's business while he was already in office. Attention is also drawn to the fact that another company, owned by Paluckas and his business partner, Emus, which manufactures similar products, has been operating successfully for over a decade. Garnis, on the other hand, was established recently and was therefore eligible for an ILTE loan, which is intended to promote start-ups.
It is this circumstance in Šimonytė opinion that is at the heart of the scandal.
'The first and main question that needs to be answered in this story is why the company Garnis was established. The shareholders decided to establish the company. Not by the director. The shareholders established a company that does not carry out any activities and which, as is now clear from public information, has some strange relationship with a sister company, 'noted Šimonytė, referring to information made public by public figure Andrius Tapinas.
As announced, Tapinas had reported receiving information from a company, whose identity is undisclosed for confidentiality reasons, that it had coordinated the supply of goods with a representative of Emus, who allegedly later instructed the company to issue its invoice to Garnis and send the goods to Emus' address.
Therefore, Šimonytė reiterated that it is essential to obtain all answers regarding the circumstances surrounding the establishment of Garnis.
'Was this company established solely because the main, previously operating company, which, as I understand from public information, was in a fairly good financial position, was unable to obtain an ILTE loan? I believe this question should be answered, 'she said.' Now, from the whole story of how events unfolded later, it seems that this was simply a scheme aimed at establishing a company that could apply for an ILTE loan,“ the conservative politician summarised.
A journalistic investigation has raised questions about a potential conflict of interest, and law enforcement authorities are investigating the situation
A joint investigation by Laisvės TV and the investigative journalism centre Siena, published last week, revealed that a preferential loan of EUR 200,000 from the national development bank ILTE (formerly Invega) was granted to a company controlled by Paluckas while he was Prime Minister. It was given in part to a company controlled by Paluckas while he was already serving as Prime Minister.
According to the investigation, another company controlled by the Prime Minister, Emus, was not eligible for ILTE loans for young businesses. Consequently, the loan was granted to Garnis, which was established only last year and has not yet submitted its financial statements to the Register Centre.
However, Garnis was only eligible for the maximum EUR 200,000 after increasing its authorised capital to EUR 40,000, which shareholders Paluckas and Mindaugas Milašauskas did on 30 December last year.
The investigation also points out that after Garnis received the EUR 200,000 preferential loan, the Prime Minister not only publicly discussed ILTE as a means to fund small and medium-sized businesses but also made decisions related to the national bank himself.
Paluckas himself told journalists that he was not involved in the activities of Garnis, which had received the loan and saw no reason to recuse himself from decisions related to ILTE. However, in response to President Nausėda's calls, the Prime Minister turned to the Supreme Commission for Professional Ethics (VTEK).
For her part, Daina Kleponė, chair of the ILTE Supervisory Board, informed Elta last Thursday that the institution had initiated an internal audit of the EUR 5 million preferential loan to Garnis, which it plans to complete within a week.
In addition, on Thursday, public figure Andrius Tapinas announced on his Facebook page that he had received information from a company, which he did not disclose for confidentiality reasons, that it had coordinated the supply of goods with a representative of Emus who later instructed that the company's invoice should be issued to Garnis and the goods sent to the address of Emus.
It was also reported that these expenses were planned to be covered by a loan granted to ILTE – although the goods were intended for and sent to Emus, they could have been paid for by another company owned by the Prime Minister. F
For his part, Garnis director Artūras Lapinskas called the published links' nonsense'. They said he planned to contact the State Data Protection Inspectorate (VDAI) regarding the information published by the public figure.
The Special Investigation Service (STT) also decided to investigate the information that Tapinas shared on Thursday. ELTA reminds us that, according to the Centre of Registers, Paluckas owns 49% of the shares in Garnis, a company that makes battery systems. At the same time, the Prime Minister owns 51% of the shares in Emus, a company that manufactures lithium-ion batteries, software and systems. The politician headed Emus from 2010 to 2017.
Milašauskas own the remaining shares in both companies. He is currently the director of Emus.