Causes of stagnation: Anxiety is spreading to the Lithuanian regions, but expensive electricity is not the cause here

"There is anxiety in the elite Rotary and Lions clubs of the regions, it will intensify as spring approaches. Expensive gas or electricity is not the cause here. Fear and anxiety are not caused by the crazy prices of energy resources.

 

A new election season begins, funds are being collected and local micro-oligarchs are anxiously looking to save the seats of the politicians they favor, because without these seats their businesses and influence can quickly be reduced to zero.

 

Unfortunately, this is the political and economic reality of the regions - quite a lot of businesses there, especially in poorer regions, depend directly on the local government.

 

If you don't win the tender to supply the local hospital or municipality with toilet paper, you will have a lot of trouble because you won't be able to sell it in the normal market - it is full of much stronger suppliers.

 

I am joking, but the principle has not changed for decades - the local mini-businesses of oligarchs and politicians and their survival often directly depend on the orders of the local self-government. And these orders - completely legal - are formed by the political force that won the elections at that time.

 

Most of the regional experienced businessmen are simply unable to compete in big cities or expand their activities throughout Lithuania - there are neither money, nor human resources, nor qualifications.

 

On the other hand, the position of the mayor himself and other high-ranking employees and officials of the municipality becomes especially dangerous if we talk about legal matters. It is no secret that politicians often have to operate in a gray legal zone, and the consequences of this can be very painful.

 

The source of anxiety in this background is the uncertainty of whose side the law enforcement agencies and other institutions will take.

 

The last example is Artūras Zuokas, a former candidate for Vilnius city mayor and the Lithuanian Freedom Union (Liberals) he led at the time, who were accused of violating the election financing procedure during the previous municipal elections. There was no gross violation, the Central Election Commission (CEC) decided on Tuesday.

 

Almost 17 thousand euros are recognized as non-monetary campaign donations of A. Zuokas and the party he led at the time, paid by legal entities. Another 1.3 thousand euros to be recognized as illegal financing of the Lithuanian Freedom Union.

 

A. Zuokas, party vice-chairman Vydūnas Sadauskas, who attended the meeting, denied any violations. They asked the CEC to stop the investigation after the statute of limitations expired. According to both A. Zuokas and V. Sadauskas, the investigated events cover the years 2017-2019, the investigation began in 2020, and the law obliges the CEC to conduct investigations within nine months at most.

 

However, details such as statutes of limitations were not taken into account and the decision was made. Let's believe that it's just a coincidence that the decision was made just as the new municipal elections began.

 

But this is not the roughest part of the political game. More than one politician has experienced what it means to live in a year when a criminal case is filed and life and career opportunities are more than vague.

 

The Panevėžys District Court acquitted the mayor of Kupiškis, Dainiai Bardauskas, who was accused of corruption, and Jolita Janušonienė, the director of the Cultural Center of the same district, who was tried together with the mayor, was also acquitted.

 

"Both defendants have been acquitted of all charges," court representative Jolita Gudelienė told BNS. The mayor and the director were charged with demanding and accepting a bribe, influence peddling, falsification of documents and inciting to falsify a document. According to her, the main reason for the acquittal is that none of the defendants received personal material or non-material benefits.

 

"The money they received from the merchants cannot be treated as a bribe, all the money was used to organize the festivities. After establishing that there were violations of the Law on Charity and Support, it is not criminal to look for event sponsors, all the received support was used to organize the events," the representative of the court told BNS.

 

According to the Panevėžys board officials of the Special Investigation Service (STT), who conducted the pre-trial investigation in this case, the mayor of the district municipality and the head of the Culture Center could demand and take bribes from several companies for exceptional trading conditions in 2017, 2018 and 2019 during the festival "Stichijos" held at Kupiškis lagoon. For several years in a row, the festival was held on the island of Kupiškis lagoon "Uošvės liežuvis". The prosecutor's office stated that the amount of bribes demanded and agreed to be accepted amounted to 20 thousand euros. D. Bardauskas is also accused of incitement, and the director of the Kupiškis district cultural center of falsifying documents.

 

Both of them denied the guilt.

 

After the allegations were made, the mayor was also suspended from his duties, but later the court allowed him to return to them.

 

The mentioned stories are far from the only ones that came to this pre-election year from 2019 held elections.

 

The Vilnius District Court acquitted the mayor of Panevėžys, Rytis Mykola Račkauskas, of influence peddling and abuse, an agreed bribe from the Lietkabelis basketball club.

 

He was acquitted as having not committed an act having the characteristics of a crime or misdemeanor. Allegations of trafficking and illegal possession of ammunition in this case, also presented to the president of the Lietkabelis basketball club, Alvydas Bieliauskas. He was also acquitted due to corruption, and the case regarding possession of ammunition was dismissed as insignificant, the ammunition was confiscated by the court.

 

"The court found regarding the effect of the trade that there was no corrupt agreement or corrupt exchange necessary for this crime. The court concluded that there is no data in the case that R. M. Račkauskas's demand, the request for support, was related to his true and real intention to receive a bribe for his action or inaction," said judge Darius Pranka, who announced the verdict.

 

As the law enforcement announced, during the pre-trial investigation they gathered data that in the spring of 2019, while visiting the office of A. Bieliauskas in Vilnius, R. M. Račkauskas may have asked this businessman from Vilnius for a service - to cover the debt of the public election committee he leads (3 thousand euros) left over from the municipal elections.

 

This is the second case brought against R. M. Račkauskas. He was found guilty in the previous case, but the sentence has not yet entered into force. On January 24, the Šiauliai District Court found the manager of Panevėžys guilty of abuse and fined him 30,000 euro fine. The mayor was deprived of the right to work in the public service for five years, and more than 5 thousand were also confiscated.

 

Another mayor also celebrated the victory. The Molėtai Chamber of the Utena District Court acquitted the former mayor of Anykščiai, Kęstutis Tubis, on charges of influence peddling.

 

In 2019 January 28 he was detained by the Special Investigation Service (STT). The court suspended him from office for three months. He was also given preventive measures - 10 thousand. EUR deposit, written promise not to leave, prohibition to communicate with certain persons and visit the Anykščiai district municipality administration building. In 2019 he unsuccessfully sought to be re-elected for a second term in the mayoral elections.

 

Not all fresh candidates for district and city mayors have been announced yet. How many newcomers and old players will be put off by the changing reality and "skeletons in the closet", we will see only after the elections.

 

The bad news is that so far no one can or even plans to cut this Gordian knot.

 

Investments that could reach the province are often halted if they harm local oligarchs who want to preserve the market and cheap labor.

 

On the other hand, politicians are forced to operate in a shadow zone where actions can be treated as authorities wish.

 

However, there is also the part that politicians often simply represent someone else's interests, often, especially at the level of councils, they themselves are businessmen, and the fight is not about ideas, but about a richer budgetary public procurement tender."