“I have not had and don’t have working relations with Sofija Markauskienė’s farm, I have worked as a family member“, he said during a Thursday sitting of the opposition Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats’ political group in the parliament.
He confirmed though that he still takes care of affairs of his mother’s farm and has had an authorization to do so for ten years but does not receive any pay for that.
“It’s a bit like shooting sparrows with a cannon“, Barkauskas said.
Lithuanian Prezident Dalia Grybauskaitė said earlier this week that the agriculture minister might be violating the Constitution by working at his mother’s farm.
The minister came under fire after the 15min.lt news website reported that Markauskas’ mother, Sofija Markauskienė, has been using several plots of land in the district of Klaipeda without the landowners’ permission for five to six years and that she has been receiving payments from the EU for that land. The minister said he had received the landowner’s verbal consent.