After meeting for nearly four hours on Thursday evening, the Central Election Commission (CEC) ruled that the Nemuno Aušra party had grossly violated the law by renting cars from its own members and reimbursing them with state subsidy funds. This means that the party led by Remigijus Žemaitaitis may have to say goodbye to budget allocations for a while, Augustė Lyberytė claims in lrytas.
All 11 members of the Central Election Commission who attended the meeting spoke out against the serious violations committed.
During the CEC’s investigation, it was determined that Nemuno Aušra had not submitted any documents proving that the car rental agreements concluded with Žemaitaitis and Daiva Petkevičienė had been fulfilled, or that the vehicles had actually been used for the party’s activities.
It also emerged that Žemaitaitis used the same car he had rented for the party for both his activities as a Seimas member and his presidential election campaign. Incidentally, at the same time, the company where the parliamentarian’s spouse works was also able to use the car under a lease agreement.
The Central Election Commission (CEC) found that Nemuno Aušra violated the Financial Accounting Act by failing to account for approximately EUR 49,000 in expenditures. In light of this, it was determined that Nemuno Aušra also violated the Law on Political Organisations, as it misused the party’s subsidy by transferring these funds to Nemuno Aušra members and submitted knowingly false data to the commission.
These violations were deemed serious, which may result in the party’s state financial subsidy being restricted. However, the Central Election Commission will decide on such restrictions in April, when it allocates funds to all political forces.
According to Central Election Commission Chairwoman Lina Petronienė, a decision on the subsidies is planned for a meeting next Thursday.
“We will consider this issue when the allocation of funds to all political parties is being discussed, and the VRK will make a decision then,” Petronienė told reporters after the meeting.
Additionally, the VRK ordered Žemaitaitis and Petkevičienė to return the illegally obtained funds—approximately EUR 26,000 and 15,000, respectively—to the party’s budget.
Finally, the commission decided to inform the Special Investigation Service (STT) and the Prosecutor General’s Office of the identified violations, and to forward the relevant information to the State Tax Inspectorate (VMI).
The deliberations lasted nearly 4 hours.
On Thursday afternoon, commission members gathered at the VRK building and reviewed the more than 30-page investigation report from the Department for the Control of Political Party and Political Campaign Financing. The meeting will also hear arguments from Nemuno Aušra. Remigijus Žemaitaitis himself and his lawyer, Vaidotas Sviderskis, attended the meeting.
“I feel fine; I’m not going in for surgery or treatment,” Žemaitaitis told reporters before the meeting when asked how he was feeling.
When asked if he was concerned that the party might lose its state subsidy, the Nemuno Aušra leader noted that such a conclusion would not necessarily be confirmed. According to him, the Central Election Commission’s investigation report contains contradictory statements.
“We’ll see if there’s no risk (of losing the subsidy – Lrytas), because the documents… The facts in the conclusion need a bit of checking, because the report even contradicts what we’ve submitted to each other. (…) It’s interesting who wrote these reports,” said the politician.
“We will review our observations and request that this report be rejected,” he added.
What did the investigation reveal?
The civic public procurement analysis initiative Viešpirkiai reported on the questionable car rental contracts between Nemuno Aušra and its own party members as early as the beginning of February. It was reported that on January 17, 2024, Nemuno Aušra entered into a car rental agreement with the party’s chairman, Žemaitaitis, and in March of the same year, with party board member Petkevičienė.
At the time, the Central Election Commission (CEC) stated that the information that had appeared in the public domain was already known—the commission had received the first indications of this as early as September of last year, when independent auditors who had analysed the parties’ financial documents submitted their findings.
According to them, the Nemuno Aušra had not included Žemaitaitis’ and his deputy’s car lease agreements in their 2024 reports, which raised reasonable doubts as to whether the contracts were actually being executed and were related to the legitimate activities of Nemuno Aušra. The Nemuno Aušra party provided the auditors with the relevant documents (signed car lease agreements, vehicle acceptance and transfer certificates) only after discrepancies in the previously submitted information were identified.
The investigation revealed that the lease agreement with Žemaitaitis was signed the day after the party was registered with the Centre of Registers—January 17, 2024. The monthly lease fee for the Land Rover Range Rover Sport was set at approximately EUR 3,100.
On March 12 of the same year, a contract was signed with Petkevičienė, a party board member. The monthly rental cost for her car was approximately EUR 2,200.
Both contracts were to remain in effect until December 1, 2024, but following the Seimas elections held in October of that same year, the term was shortened to November 13.
The auditors note that during the audit, no documents evidencing the fulfilment of the concluded car rental contracts were provided—such as trip logs, fuel purchase receipts, orders, or directives—to substantiate that the vehicles were used for the party’s activities.
According to the audit specialists, the contracts themselves are not sufficient proof that the cars were actually used for Nemuno Aušra. The Central Election Commission (CEC) also noted this to the State Tax Inspectorate (STI): “The mere submission of a car rental contract, in the absence of any other evidence related to its execution, does not substantiate the use of the leased property in the party’s activities.”
Car rentals were paid for only after receiving a state subsidy
Žemaitaitis had previously explained that the car rental contracts for him and Petkevičienė were paid for only after the party received a state subsidy. The VRK investigation confirmed this.
The report states that EUR 241,000 in state budget allocations were transferred to Nemuno Aušra on April 15 of last year.
Approximately EUR 26,000 in rent was transferred to Žemaitaitis a couple of weeks later—on April 28—and EUR 15,000 was transferred to Petkevičienė on June 13.
It was precisely during the period between these transfers—on May 26—that Nemuno Aušra submitted documents regarding funding to the Central Election Commission. However, as mentioned, the car rental agreements were not included in the reports.
The law prohibits the distribution of state subsidy funds to party members. Since the Nemuno Aušra members did not submit documents substantiating the execution of the lease agreements, it is considered that the party violated the law.
Žemaitaitis’ car – used for both the presidential election campaign and his wife’s workplace
It is true that during the investigation, the Central Election Commission also reviewed the car loan agreement dated April 18, 2023, received from the State Tax Inspectorate, signed between Žemaitaitis’s spouse, Živilė Žemaitaitienė, and the Law Firm. The Land Rover Range Rover Sport transferred under the lease agreement is the same vehicle that Žemaitaitis leased to his party in early 2024.
Furthermore, in his responses to the VRK, the leader of the Nemuno Aušra party stated that he himself used the same vehicle for his parliamentary duties. The politician also claimed to have driven the same car during the presidential election campaign.
Therefore, it is concluded that the member of parliament used his car—which had been transferred to his wife’s workplace for three years under a loan agreement—for parliamentary activities, party activities, and campaigning for the presidential election.
“Fuel costs—EUR 1,286.54—incurred at the designated locations of presidential election meetings are to be considered expenses of his political campaign,” the VRK report states.
Party attorney: The party categorically denies having knowingly submitted false data
After the investigation was presented, Nemuno Aušra’s lawyer, Sviderskis, asked the VRK investigators on what basis the report mentions the need to complete travel logs and why it claims the party knowingly submitted false data.
However, he acknowledged that the party did not submit the car rental contracts to the auditors on time. Nevertheless, according to the lawyer, this was due to human error.
“The failure to include information about car rental agreements in the 2024 financial report was, in fact, an accounting error caused by objective circumstances—namely, the change in the party’s treasurer on December 9, 2024. Also, due to other reasons that you yourselves have identified—human and technical errors. We agree. The error was noticed, acknowledged, and corrected,” he explained.
According to the lawyer, Nemuno Aušra disagrees with the conclusion that the party failed to submit documents proving that the lease agreements were indeed being executed. He noted that Nemuno Aušra submitted the lease agreements, vehicle transfer and acceptance certificates, and the minutes of the party board’s decision.
“All of these mandatory documents were retained; they were prepared and duly submitted to the Central Election Commission. Therefore, there is neither a legal nor a factual basis for claiming that the party did not substantiate the expenses related to economic operations (…) with supporting documents,” explained Sviderskis.
“The draft decision proposes to recognise that the party grossly violated the Law on Political Organisations (…) by submitting knowingly false data. The party categorically disagrees with such claims and this characterisation of the situation,” said the attorney.
Žemaitaitis: “At one point, I was like three people”
As the hearing lasted more than two hours, Žemaitaitis himself took the floor. He claimed that even before the Seimas elections, the Central Election Commission had made relevant comments to the party regarding financing issues. Therefore, according to the parliamentarian, the party agreed to enter into a lease agreement immediately after its registration, so that no questions or doubts would arise.
“That is why, right after the party was established, we signed a car lease agreement so that there would be no doubts as to whether I drive and use the car for my own needs,” said the Nemuno Aušra member.
He also drew attention to the CEC investigation’s conclusion that, at the same time, the politician used the same car for personal purposes, party activities, and parliamentary duties.
According to Žemaitaitis, the car was leased to the party for 22 days per month. The rest of the time, he used it for other purposes.
“We’re doing something very simple—we’re renting it for 22 days. (…) Let’s do it in such a way that no one has any, even the slightest (questions—Lrytas),” he explained.
“We made sure that no accusations could be levelled against us,” the politician assured.
However, the parliamentarian also noted that questions might arise regarding other politicians who held various positions at the same time.
“I was like three people at once. I was a member of the Seimas, a presidential candidate, and the party chairman all at once. I remember how it was with Saulius Skvernelis—he was a party member, prime minister, and presidential candidate. President Gitanas Nausėda—it was the same. He was president and a candidate,” he explained, also mentioning former Seimas Speaker Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen.
“She was a member of the Seimas, Seimas Speaker, and party chair. She also attended the same events and used whose car? A Seimas car. (…) When performing her duties as Speaker of the Seimas, should she get into her own car, have her security get into a car, and travel in a different car? (…) “Based on your conclusion, the Central Election Commission should launch an investigation into how the speaker of the Seimas, the prime minister, and the president, while performing their duties, use these resources,” Žemaitaitis concluded his statement.
Will Appeal the CEC’s Decision
Following the CEC’s verdict, Žemaitaitis made it clear that he was not surprised by the decision—he said it was to be expected, given the strong public sentiment on this issue.
“There is such pressure from the public regarding this incident. You saw it yourselves—they aren’t even listening to the arguments,” Žemaitaitis told reporters after the VRK meeting.
“We will appeal (the decision – Lrytas), what can we do now. We will try to appeal. I’m not alone in this—the poor Social Democrats once lost 0.5 million euros,” he noted.
However, the CEC unanimously ruled that the violations were serious. Nemuno Aušra also attributed this to the perceived pressure.
“You have to understand; this is public opinion. If we were to feed this into artificial intelligence, perhaps there wouldn’t be such a decision,” he explained.
“We did something that no one has ever done before. After this decision, I’d better put it this way—you have to do everything under the table, not publicise anything, not show anything, do everything in secret, and you won’t get anything. That’s a good lesson I’ve learned in life,” the MP said ironically.
Chairwoman of the Central Election Commission: “I am pleased with the commission’s unity.”
Last year, the Central Election Commission addressed another issue regarding Nemuno Aušra’s funding. At that time, it was acknowledged that Nemuno Aušra had accepted donations from legal entities during the Seimas election campaign and concealed part of its expenses. Based on the data collected, the VRK concluded that Nemuno Aušra received non-monetary contributions from at least three legal entities. It was calculated that Jozita allocated over EUR 2,800 to the campaign Tvari Statyba – approximately EUR 974 – and to Socium Agency – over EUR 2,500.
Consequently, the political party was ordered to pay over EUR 6,300 into the state budget for these violations of the Election Code.
The Election Code stipulates that legal entities may not finance election campaigns. This is considered a gross violation of the Code. However, at that time, the Central Election Commission (CEC) decided not to classify Nemuno Aušra’s violations as gross.
This time, the commission spoke with one voice.
“I am pleased with the commission’s unanimity,” said Petronienė, chair of the Central Election Commission, when asked about the commission’s previous investigation and Thursday’s decision.
According to her, the commission members’ positions may have changed, as the investigation last year involved significantly smaller sums of money.
If Nemuno Aušra appeals the CEC’s decision, could this affect the distribution of subsidies? Petronienė assured that next week the commission will be able to make decisions regardless of whether Nemuno Aušra has appealed to the Regional Administrative Court.
Both the Prosecutor’s Office and the VTEK are investigating the situation
The Chief Official Ethics Commission is also investigating Nemuno Aušra’s car rentals from its own party members. A week ago, it was decided to expand the investigation into Žemaitaitis’s car.
The VTEK is assessing whether the leader of Nemuno Aušra, by entering into these transactions and failing to declare them in his declaration of private interests, violated the law requiring the avoidance of conflicts of interest and the declaration of transactions exceeding EUR 3,000 in value.
Law enforcement agencies are also taking an interest in the situation—in early March, the police launched a pre-trial investigation into possible fraud involving the leasing of a car to the party while simultaneously using it for the MP’s official duties; the Vilnius District Prosecutor’s Office is leading the investigation.
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