As stated in the municipality’s press release issued on Friday, an appeal has been made to the Public Procurement Office, the Chief Official Ethics Commission, and the Financial Crime Investigation Service.
It is reported that while the institutions conduct their investigations, the acting director of Raudondvaris Manor, Kotryna Inga Morkūnaitė, and her deputy Egidijus Morkūnas have been temporarily suspended from their duties.
From Friday, Ugnė Žemgulienė has been temporarily appointed to lead the institution.
Member of Parliament, conservative Mindaugas Lingė, stated on the social network “Facebook” on Thursday that Raudondvaris Manor was concluding purchase contracts with a company related to E. Morkūnas. The parliamentarian claims that this company has won several dozen public procurements of the manor.
It is estimated that between 2022 and 2026, 29 non-competitive public procurement contracts were concluded between the manor and the deputy director’s company, with a total value exceeding 71 thousand euros.
The municipality states that it had not received data on possible violations before the information was made public. It also promises to provide all necessary information and documents to the institutions.
It is emphasized that if violations of legal acts are found during the investigations, the municipality promises to take appropriate legal and administrative measures.
A working group was previously established by the mayor’s order, tasked with examining and identifying possible violations in the employment of staff at Raudondvaris Manor.
Investigation also concerning the Prime Minister’s spouse
The director of the municipal administration, Mantas Rikteris, has said that an internal investigation is being conducted regarding the actions of two employees. One of them is the head of the Public and International Relations Department, who is the spouse of Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius, Aistė Sinkevičienė.
The LRT Investigations Department announced in mid-August that after A. Sinkevičienė returned from maternity leave, a Public and International Relations Department was established in the Kaunas district municipality, where she became the head without competition as a civil servant whose performance exceeded expectations.
According to the investigation, A. Sinkevičienė also works part-time remotely as a public relations representative at Raudondvaris Manor, but her contacts are not publicly disclosed, and other employees say they have not heard of such a colleague.
A. Sinkevičienė herself states that she was hired according to the applicable procedure and also claims that the information spread publicly is inaccurate.
The public broadcaster’s investigation also showed that a few months ago, the spouse of the Kaunas district mayor, social democrat Valerijus Makūnas, Aurelija, was working at Raudondvaris Manor.
The manor also employs the mayor’s advisor Loreta Navakauskienė and her spouse, as well as Jūratė Kuzmickaitė, advisor to the Minister of Education, Science and Sports Raminta Popovienė in the Seimas, the son of the long-time manor director Snieguolė Navickienė, and other persons associated with the ruling social democrats.
The main funding for Raudondvaris Manor comes from the Kaunas district municipality. Its budget is about 4 million euros.
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