Povilas Poderskis, a former administration director at Vilnius City Municipality, has been proposed for the position of Lithuania’s environment minister, Remigijus Žemaitaitis, leader of the Nemunas Dawn party, confirmed on Tuesday.
According to Žemaitaitis, Poderskis was a contender for the post of chancellor of the Environment Ministry but was offered the ministerial post after all other options were exhausted.
“I’m almost done pulling out all the candidates from my team,” Žemaitaitis told reporters.
Poderskis is currently head of the Agency for Development of the Construction Sector, a position he has held since September.
Previously, he worked as a lobbyist, development manager at Darnu Group, a real estate development company, and managing director of Nord Security, a cyber security company.
Poderskis served as the director of Vilnius City Municipality Administration from 2017 to 2021 and as an adviser to Vilnius Mayor Remigijus Šimašius from 2015 to 2017.
On Monday, Žemaitaitis named Tomas Kovėra as a candidate for environment minister. However, Kovėra refused the nomination after the public backlash over the mysterious death of his girlfriend more than two decades ago.
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The Nemunas Dawn has three portfolios – of Environment, Justice, and Agriculture ministries – in the government being formed by Social Democrat Prime Minister-designate Gintautas Paluckas.
The party had already proposed candidates for both the Environment and Justice ministries, but President Gitanas Nausėda rejected them, saying that the nominees were unable to outline priorities for Lithuania’s 2027 EU presidency.
Nausėda approved the Nemunas Dawn’s third candidate, Ignas Hofmanas, a farmer and chairman of the Lithuanian Agriculture Council, as agriculture minister.
Meanwhile, Paluckas said on Tuesday that he has met with Rimantas Mockus, a lawyer proposed for justice minister, and considers him a suitable candidate.
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