Amendments to curb corruption submitted to Lithuanian parliament

Mindaugas Lingė, domestic policy adviser to the president, commented on the amendments to the Žinių Radijas radio: “One of the proposals is to reinstate a ban on state and municipality companies giving support to their own founders and companies connected with them. Now companies can support their main shareholders, which creates a conflict of interest, creates a risk of corruption.”

According to the State Tax Inspectorate, five municipalities received 400,000 euro support from their own companies in the last two years.

The amendments also stipulate that politicians and political parties cannot receive free services from private companies. Mr. Lingė said that “it would be a specification of the Charity and Support Law. These cases should be approached as a form of corruption and not as support. An important part of the amendments is transparency.”

State controls 131 companies and municipalities control 282 companies with a total value of 12 billion euro. Local self-government law amendments should tighten procedures of establishment of municipality-controlled companies. Mr. Lingė said that “25 municipality controlled companies were created last year alone. [According to the new law,] It will only be possible to set up a new company by getting an authorization from the Competition Council and proving that the intended service is not already provided in the market and it does not distort competition.”