Why Do Lithuania's Elite Live Well? Because They Get a Lot of Money: The Prosecutor General's Office on Friday Filed Charges Against Seimas Member, Former Prime Minister, Saulius Skvernelis in the State Plant Breeding Service Bribery Case.

“As reported by prosecutors, the politician is suspected of bribery.

 

According to prosecutors, there is sufficient reason to suspect that while serving as Speaker of the Seimas, S. Skvernelis accepted at least 51,000 euros in cash bribes on several occasions for political favors in the exercise of his powers related to the activities of the Plant Breeding Service.

 

The bribes were allegedly passed on to the politician by his advisor Agnė Silickienė, who also worked at the Plant Breeding Service.

 

The Seimas allowed the MP to be brought to criminal responsibility, and his legal immunity was lifted under a simplified procedure.

 

Prosecutor General Nida Grunskienė stated that more than 1 million euros received as bribes are involved in this case.

 

According to officials, since June 2025, the former head of this service, Jurijus Kornijenko, his advisor Aurelijus Šapranauskas and other individuals have received bribes every month from representatives of companies transporting plants and plant products for issuing distributed phytosanitary certificates to members of the criminal group and other individuals, including S. Skvernelis.

 

It is indicated that these circumstances are recorded in the records kept, in which S. Skvernelis is assigned the nickname "Crab".

 

According to N. Grunskienė, the suspicions against the politician are based on the testimonies of witnesses and suspects, evidence found during searches, and other documents of the pre-trial investigation.

 

The parliamentarian himself denies the charges. He told journalists that he neither knew about the aforementioned criminal scheme nor took the money.

 

In total, 15 individuals have been charged in this pre-trial investigation. Among them is the former Minister of Agriculture, a Conservative, Kazys Starkevičius.”