On Tuesday, lawmakers gave their initial backing to launching such an investigation, with 51 votes in favor, 11 against and 18 abstentions.
The parliament will consider the issue on Nov. 20, and lawmakers still need to decide on who’s going to carry out the probe – members of the parliamentary Committee on Rural Affairs or an ad hoc commission.
Presenting the bill, former Agriculture Minister Bronius Markauskas said now is “the right time to carry out such a probe as (…) a lot of questions remain unanswered.”
In his words, 30 billion euros “were used” in the agriculture sector after Lithuania joined the EU but the situation leaves much to be desired.
The probe initiators suggest looking into the regulation of land transfer and the acquisition of agricultural land. They also want to investigate the transparency of the distribution of EU funds in the agriculture sector over the period of 25 years up to when LVŽS came into power.