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Corruption in Lithuania is examined on this page.

Extent

According to 2016 results of Corruption Perception Index of Transparency International, Lithuania ranks 38th place out of 176 countries. According to European Commission anti-corruption report, Lithuania was the most corrupt country within the European Union with 95% of citizens considering corruption to be widespread and a major problem. Lithuania had the highest amount of citizens who paid bribes in the past 12 months of any EU country, according to the anti corruption report from 2014. An investigation made by Lithuanian government revealed that approximately half of Lithuanians will not even consider reporting corruption due to belief that it's hopleless to even try combat corruption.

According to Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite, Lithuanian parliament's unwillingness to combat corruption is a major issue in the fight against corruption. In 2017, president's initiative to forbid a loophole allowing inflated procurement pricing and money laundering in public organizations was voted down by the parliament. There was a anti-corruption strategy introduced by the government in 2011–2014 but details are publicly unavailable.

As of 2017, there is very limited legal protection of whistle-blowers which undermines the government's anti-corruption efforts. Annual survey done by STT (Lietuvos Respublikos specialiųjų tyrimų tarnyba) revealed that 45% of Lithuania's citizens paid bribes in 2014 Lithuania's shadow economy was estimated to be 29% of national GDP in 2012.. Societal trust towards the national political and legal systems is low overall. A survey from 2015 showed that 25% of citizens trust Lithuanian legal system and 10% trust Seimas, Lithuanian parliament In 2016 and 2017 Lithuania had a large number of corruption scandals concerning politicians and public procurement. In nearly every case, no criminal charges were brought up. A study by Freedom House claims that corruption remains widespread in Lithuania and politicians regularly attempt to influence or undermine judicial decisions, compromising court independence.

Notable cases

Examples post-2016

• In 2016, Lithuanian public energy company came under fire for purchasing supplies well above the market prices. As of September of 2017, no charges have been brought against any employees of the company.
• In 2016, Eligijus Masiulis, leader of the Liberal Movement (Lithuania), a prominent political party in Lithuania was arrested with 106 thousand euros in cash in a box of an alcoholic beverage. It is suspected that the money is a bribe by MG Baltic, a Lithuanian investment firm. During a subsequent search of Masiulis apartment, 250 thousand euros in cash have been found. As of April 2017, no charges have been pressed against Masiulis and no official comments from the prosecutor's office have been presented.
• In 2016, ŽŪMPRRA, an agency providing food support to the Lithuania's poor and financed by the EU bought food supplies significantly above the market price.
• In 2016, several politicians in Kaunas, Lithuania's second largest city were sued by the new city administration for having fictional employment - receiving large salaries without ever coming to work.
• In 2016, a politician in Kaunas was arrested with suspicions that his newly built 210 square meter house was a bribe, given to him by a private company (government contractor).
• In 2017, the head of state-owned Šilainių poliklinika, one of the largest hospitals in Kaunas was sued for corruption. His son was one of the main suppliers to the hospital and these supplier contracts were very unfavorable for the hospital.
• In early 2017, a scandal erupted when newspapers uncovered that G. Kėvišas, a public servant with a 2000 EUR salary, has amassed significant wealth - large areas of land, house in the prestigious Laurai neighbourhood, a summer house by the lake, expensive apartment and another house. It was later uncovered that Kėvišas also owns a luxurious real estate in Altea, Spain. Kevišas was involved in scandals surrounding embezzlement and expensive renovation of Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre As of September 2017, there has not been any investigations into or charges against Mr. Kėvišas.
• In 2015, „Start Vilnius“, a governmental agency tasked with attracting investment to Lithuania, gave an attractive plot of land to one of its employees.
• In 2016, "Start Vilnius", a governmental agency tasked with attracting investment to Lithuania, which is also famous for corruption and shady deal-making handed over a large plot of land in central Vilnius to a private company for 15'000 EUR.

Examples pre-2016

• Arturas Zuokas, former mayor of Vilnius was convicted for trying to bribe a fellow politician. Criminal record was later removed, although the Zuokas was not declared innocent.
• Soon after Andrius Kupčinskas completed his second term as mayor of Kaunas, prices for road construction and repairs in the city dropped by 40%
• In 2004, former Lithuanian president Rolandas Paksas became the first president in Europe to be impeached. He was impeached on multiple corruption charges: for giving Lithuanian citizenship to his Russian donor Jurij Borisov, for passing secret information to Jurij Borisov and for pressuring a private company to hand over ownership rights to people close to Paksas
• Lithuania is a major receiver of EU funding and there have been several high profile cases of EU funding embezzlement
• There are suspicions that project to close Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant involves significant embezzlement and money laundering
• Preparations for European Capital of Culture - Vilnius 2009 cost nearly 300 million LTL, way more than what was spent by Riga, Latvia with 24 million EUR and more than any other city. Preparation project was led by Arturas Zuokas and it was characterized by lack of transparency, surprising expenses and inflated prices.
• Lithuanian military raised suspicions of corruption when it spent over 200 million LTL on two ships which UK Royal Navy donated for free. Lithuania's defence minister at the time refused to comment and did not remember any details
• A scandal broke out in 2013 when Lithuanian military overpaid for 3 helicopters. Helicopters whose price was listed at 25 million LTL a piece were bought for 60 million LTL a piece. The deal has not been stopped and nobody was charged of corruption.
• Algirdas Brazauskas, a former president of Lithuania, privatized hotel "Draugystė" and gave it away to his mistress Kristina. The hotel was estimated to be worth 40 million LTL . In 2003, it was up for sale for 60 million LTL

References

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External links

• Lithuania Corruption Profile from the Business Anti-Corruption Portal

• Crime in Lithuania
• Corruption in Europe