„The second investigation is probably not surprising. The Prime Minister has already expressed his opinion after hearing the questions from the authors of the text and the film. There is a lot of speculation, assumptions and fantasies that are not based on real facts, and it is probably no coincidence that such a work was presented in a cinema as entertainment. But I want to emphasise that the Prime Minister answered all of his colleagues' questions, explained all the facts and circumstances, and the authors of the investigation are treating them creatively, as we can see,“ Argustas told LRT radio.
„This can be described as speculation and attempts to show alleged connections with various people, based on stories that are a decade or more old, „ he commented.
Atgustas noted that it is understandable that due to the Prime Minister's duties, there is greater attention to his assets and connections.
„But the Prime Minister has declared everything, answered all questions, is answering and will answer. All business and political connections have been declared and submitted as required by law. Therefore, no institution has raised any questions,“ said the Prime Minister's adviser.
Paluckas' adviser also reminded that the Prime Minister has mentioned the possibility of transferring the shares of his businesses to shareholders.
„A decision regarding his shares will be announced shortly, „ he added.
ELTA reminds that on Sunday evening, the Investigative Journalism Centre Siena and Laisvės TV published an investigation raising questions about the company Sagerta, previously owned by Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas and the hundreds of thousands of euros in loans it received from businessman Darijus Vilčinskas' company Uni Trading.
The Social Democrat acquired Sagerta in 2013; however, the company was operating at a loss and had received large loans from its shareholders. According to the Registrų Centre, Paluckas was the sole shareholder of the company for the first two years of its operation; however, at that time, the politician did not disclose the loans granted to Sagerta in his declarations of interest and assets.
The Registrų Centre's database of legal entities shows that in April 2015, when Paluckas became Deputy Mayor of Vilnius, the shareholder structure of Sagerta changed – the politician retained 25% of the company's shares for himself and transferred the rest to Uni Trading, a company registered in Vilnius (45%), and two individuals (15% each).
It later emerged that the company only submitted the information about the change in the shareholder structure to the Centre of Registers in January 2017.
According to this information, the aforementioned shareholder loans to Sagerta were not provided by Paluckas but by Uni Trading.
The minutes of the shareholders' meeting submitted to the Centre of Registers in 2017 show that Vilčinskas, a businessman associated with Uni Trading, is named as the company's representative and chairman of the shareholders' meeting.
However, Vilčinskas claims that he was not the actual owner of Uni Trading and was not a source of financing for Paluckas' company.
The Prime Minister himself told journalists investigating that he did not know who controlled the company that provided annual loans to his business.
There are more links between Paluckas and Vičinskas. In 2012, the future Prime Minister purchased a flat in the capital's Verkiai Regional Park from a company headed by the businessman, which he also failed to declare in his 2013 declarations of assets and interests.
The first investigation by Sienos and Laisvės TV, published at the end of May, raised questions about a preferential loan from the national development bank ILTE received by Garnis, a company partly owned by Paluckas. This occurred while Paluckas was already serving as Prime Minister.
Paluckas and Milašauskas also control another company, Emus, which, according to the established procedure, would not have been eligible for a preferential loan from ILTE.
Paluckas himself has already explained to journalists that he is not involved in the activities of Garnis, which received the loan and saw no reason to recuse himself from government decisions related to ILTE.
The Supreme Ethics Commission (VTEK) launched an investigation into a possible conflict of interest involving Paluckas. For its part, ILTE conducted an internal audit, which found no procedural violations.
A pre-trial investigation was also launched by the Financial Crime Investigation Service (FNTT), and an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the use of the loan was initiated by the State Tax Inspectorate (VMI).