Ignas Algirdas Dobrovolskas, an advisor to Ruginienė, confirmed this to the Lrytas news portal.
„The prime minister has decided to terminate Jukna’s duties as the prime minister’s public consultant. He will no longer perform these duties until the circumstances related to his activities, as revealed in a journalistic investigation, have been clarified,“ he stated in a written comment.
As reported by the news portal 15min, the organisation Mokslinės Paslaugos (Scientific Services), headed by Jukna—who serves as the Prime Minister’s public advisor and chancellor of the Academy of Agriculture at Vytautas Magnus University (VDU)—is implementing two projects funded by the European Union (EU) aimed at improving farmers’ competencies. The organisation is expected to receive nearly 299,000 euros in EU funding for the training programs.
Another 285,000 euros for very similar training programs are expected to go to the VDU Academy of Agriculture. As is well known, Jukna has served as the Academy's chancellor since last November.
Although the requirements stipulate that at least 12 participants must attend the training sessions, according to the portal’s journalists, the seminar rooms are usually empty. After checking 13 training sessions over several months, none had any participants.
The National Payment Agency, which is responsible for inspecting the aforementioned seminars and training sessions, did not record any violations, according to 15min. However, the organisers were informed of the inspections in advance, and the inspections were conducted remotely.
The circumstances revealed by journalists raised serious questions about transparency and the legality of the opposition's activities in the Seimas. The chairman of the Parliament’s Anti-Corruption Commission, Conservative Arvydas Anušauskas, stated that he would propose to his colleagues to look into the situation—he will seek to include the issue of the training conducted by Jukna’s company on the agenda of the next session. The politician noted that he would also contact the Prosecutor General’s Office and the National Payment Service.
Meanwhile, the Democratic faction Vardan Lietuvos promises to raise questions at the Seimas Committee on Rural Affairs.
Seimas Speaker Juozas Olekas also reacted to the investigative report published on Tuesday. He stated that he views the situation negatively and expressed hope that the relevant institutions would look into the disclosed information.
„There are laws, there are procedures—they must be followed,“ the parliamentary leader told reporters at the Seimas on Tuesday.
President Gitanas Nausėda also shared similar views.
„If this is indeed true, I view it negatively. Let the investigation answer all the questions; I believe that now is the time for the Prime Minister herself to take note of this and examine the information more closely,“ Nausėda told reporters in Vilnius.
„And if this is true, it certainly does not reflect well on the Government Chancellery, and very clear decisions should be made as a result,“ he emphasised.