The central bank says that Lietuvos Rytas, which publishes a daily newspaper, runs an online news outlet and a TV channel, has been publishing false stories about the bank’s officials.
In early May, Lietuvos Rytas alleged that Vytautas Valvonis, the Bank of Lithuania’s Supervision Service director, was involved in a racketeering scheme, publishing what it said were his phonetap transcripts.
The Bank of Lithuania says the transcripts are fake and that it has asked Lietuvos Rytas to retract the story six times, to no avail.
The central bank also quotes statement from the prosecutor general, saying “there is no evidence supporting allegations that managers or employees of the Bank of Lithuania asked for a bribe”.
It has asked the Prosecutor General’s Office to open an investigation into Lietuvos Rytas’ actions.
“Unless false information is retracted in ways established in the law, the Bank of Lithuania, [its chief Vitas] Vasiliauskas and Valvonis will pursue further legal action to protect the Bank of Lithuania’s and its employees’ reputation,” the bank said in a statement.
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