Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda met with the proposed candidate for economy minister, Lukas Savickas. He has yet to decide whether to appoint the prime minister's adviser to the position.
“I personally stressed the importance of ensuring the continuity of started work, including strengthening the competitiveness of the business environment, continuing innovative reforms and continuing digitalisation work,” Savickas told reporters after the meeting.
Read more: President considers PM's adviser for economy minister
He said his other priorities would be promoting green economy, developing tourism and inproving the public procurement system.
He did not, however, provide any specific details. “I would be ready to do that once the president makes a decision,” he said.
If appointed, he said, he would be in for “an intense sprint”, with just six months before the parliamentary election.
Antanas Bubnelis, a spokesman for the president, said a decision whether to appoint Savickas to the post would be made before March 10, the start of the parliament's spring session.
“As you are well aware, the minister could assume his position only in March after the Seimas starts its spring session. […] With no doubt, the president will make his decision much sooner,” Bubnelis told a press conference on Friday.
Even with so little time before the end of term, the president still wants to appoint someone to head the ministry.
“The president's position is that all state institutions must have heads to ensure their smooth functioning. A ministry is also a very important institution and it must have a head [who is] the most appropriate person for the position,” Bubnelis said.
The president's office has earlier expressed doubts about Savickas' suitability for the post.
The position of economy and innovation minister has been vacant since December when Virginijus Sinkevičius took up a job in the European Commission.
The president has not announced his decision on Savickas yet.
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