R. Puchovičius continues to claim that he supported the party and election campaigns with his personal funds.
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“Like all businessmen, probably would agree with me that no shareholder ever keeps any money, and all money usually works, is invested. So I always gave all my free money to the company,” said the “aušrietis” to LRT television on Thursday.
“At that time I had not decided how much I would donate, or if I would donate at all at that time, so when I made the decision to donate exactly that amount and from that amount I took out that money for myself,” he added.
As BNS wrote, on Thursday the VRK acknowledged that “Nemuno aušra” grossly violated the Election Code and the Law on Political Organizations by financing the 2024 parliamentary election campaign with funds from legal entities and through third parties.
The party chairman R. Žemaitaitis was also found to have grossly violated the Election Code by financing his presidential election campaign with funds from a legal entity and through third parties.
According to VRK data, 24.2 thousand euros from the companies “Tvari statyba” and “Lajota” were transferred through R. Puchovičius to the “Nemuno aušra” parliamentary election campaign. Another 4.5 thousand euros of “Tvari statyba” funds were transferred through R. Puchovičius to R. Žemaitaitis’s presidential election campaign.
The commission also found that part of the “Nemuno aušra” membership fees were paid from R. Puchovičius’s funds received from a third party. In total, 4.3 thousand euros of membership fees were paid in this way.
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VRK ordered R. Žemaitaitis to transfer 9.5 thousand euros of illegal presidential election campaign funding to the state budget within 20 working days.
At the same time, the part of the decision regarding the obligation to transfer the amount of illegally received funds by “Nemuno aušra” – a total of 28.5 thousand euros – to the state budget was postponed until the issue of state budget allocations to political parties is resolved.
According to VRK, due to the identified violations, the party may be denied state budget allocations for up to two years. The commission plans to consider this issue in the fall.
This is the second gross financial violation by “Nemuno aušra.” In March, VRK decided that “Nemuno aušra,” by renting cars from its leader and party member in 2024 and paying for the rent from state budget allocations allocated to the party, used the funds improperly.
As a result, the political organization did not receive the first half of this year’s state subsidy – 241.8 thousand euros.
