Before becoming the minister of education, conservative politician Jurgita Šiugždinienė took a payment of nearly 14,000 euros from Kaunas municipality, where she was a council member. The funds were intended to cover work-related expenses but, according to the journalist Andrius Tapinas who broke the story, there is no evidence to justify the payment.
“Minister of Education Šiugždinienė was no worse than [Kaunas Mayor] Matijošaitis at taking money from Kaunas citizens. Before she left for the ministry, she received 13,816 euros,” Tapinas, journalist and head of Laisvės TV, posted on his Facebook account on Thursday.
Earlier, he said he approached Kaunas Municipality about the evidence supporting the payment, but received no reply. He said he suspected that the municipality “cannot substantiate in any way that it [the money] was spent on expenses related to the activities of a council member”.
“If my suspicions are confirmed – that the money was transferred without any invoices, perhaps the minister kept all the invoices and other supporting documents and will be able to present them. Perhaps,” Tapinas wrote.
However, he added, the sum is too big to be reasonable.
“How can you justify that, as a councillor, each month you spend 800 euros on travel, phone calls and folders. Every month,” he said.
Even before Tapinas released the name of Šiugždinienė, Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė said that any member of her cabinet would have to resign if the allegations were proven to be true. She later specified that she would have a talk with Šiugždinienė.
Commenting on Tapinas’ reports, Šiugždinienė said that the reimbursement was justified and that she submitted all the evidence required by the Municipality’s regulation.
“As a Kaunas City councillor, I used to spend 600-700 euros a month, and would document everything all the time, according to the regulation, according to the procedure established by Kaunas City Council. I have always accounted honestly,” she told reporters on Thursday.
However, she added, while the regulation required to produce a detailed list of her reimbursable expenses, it did not ask for invoices or receipts.
Šiugždienienė also said she saw no reason to resign from her post as minister of education, science and sports.
Tapinas has been investigating expense reports of municipal council members that have recently been released to the public.
Amid suspicions of abuse, law enforcement authorities are currently investigating cases in the municipalities of Pagėgiai, Šilutė, Neringa, Šiauliai, Kaunas City, and Kaunas District.
According to the Law on Local Self-Government, members of municipal councils do not receive a salary, but they are paid for the actual time they dedicate to the job and receive allowances to cover office, postal, telephone, internet, transport, office rent and other expenses linked to their duties.
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