Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas, leader of Lithuania’s ruling Social Democratic Party, spent Sunday fishing at a private horse ranch in the Alytus District alongside Druskininkai Mayor Ričardas Malinauskas and businessman Tautvydas Barštys, the news outlet 15min.lt reported Monday.
Malinauskas has been convicted in a high-profile political corruption case.
Malinauskas confirmed to the news portal that he had visited Barštys but claimed to recall little else from the encounter.
Barštys, owner of the Royal Horse Resort where the fishing took place, told 15min.lt the prime minister’s visit was related to “rental matters” and declined to provide further details, citing client confidentiality.
Paluckas’ adviser, Tadas Vinokuras, told BNS that the prime minister had travelled to the resort with his family and met the mayor and businessman by coincidence.
“The prime minister went to the resort with his family. He personally booked and paid for the services,” Vinokuras said. “Other individuals happened to be there at the same time, but this was a coincidence – their presence was not known in advance. This was a private family vacation.”
The fishing trip came a day after Paluckas was confirmed as chairman of the Social Democratic Party at a party congress, succeeding Vilija Blinkevičiūtė, who had led the party since spring 2021 and did not seek reelection.
Malinauskas, meanwhile, was found guilty of bribery in April by the Kaunas Regional Court in a high-profile corruption case involving former judges. The court fined the Druskininkai mayor €60,000.
Prosecutors accused him of using intermediaries to offer a bribe in an effort to secure favourable court decisions in a civil case involving the so-called Vijūnėlė Manor, which was facing demolition.
On Sunday, Malinauskas confirmed to BNS that he had appealed the conviction, calling the case a “political hit job.”
He had been a member of Paluckas’ Social Democratic Party between until 2016, since then he’s been leading his own political movement.
Criticism from opposition
The prime minister’s weekend outing has sparked criticism from opposition lawmakers, who questioned the judgment and optics of spending leisure time with one of the country’s wealthiest businessmen and a recently convicted mayor.
“This fishing trip brings us back to the old traditions – only now it’s fishing with influential individuals instead of hunting,” Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, leader of the opposition Liberal Movement, wrote on Facebook. “Judging by the attention this has received, it clearly wasn’t the ‘insignificant coincidence’ some are trying to claim.”
Her colleague, Liberal MP Eugenijus Gentvilas, echoed those concerns, saying that while such private meetings aren’t required to be disclosed, the company Paluckas kept was troubling.
“It certainly doesn’t reflect well on the prime minister,” Gentvilas told the news agency ELTA. “There shouldn’t even be a shadow, not even the feeling that something could be improper.”
Mindaugas Lingė, parliamentary leader of the conservative Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats (TS-LKD), also questioned the prime minister’s explanation that the meeting was accidental.
“I wonder what Prime Minister Paluckas wished for from the golden fish he caught in one of Tautvydas Barštys’ ponds,” Lingė wrote sarcastically on Facebook. “And I wonder what Barštys asked of the prime minister in return.”
Paluckas: it was a private family outing that became public
Commenting on the issue on Tuesday, Paluckas said his fishing was a “private family pastime” that was made public.
“It became less private when the owner of the farm decided to publicise our stay on social networks, on Instagram, maybe for marketing reasons. The situation is quite simple. It’s a very nice place, it’s well maintained, it’s a wonderful horse farm, it’s well reviewed, we went there for the second time and I paid for it from my account,” the prime minister told reporters in the parliament.
He paid 150 euros for bed and breakfast, he specified. Previously, the prime minister’s family celebrated his daughter’s birthday at the farm and paid 200 euros for the night.
Paluckas said he did not mind that the Druskininkai Mayor Malinauskas was also there, since he cannot be held responsible for the owner “inviting other friends”.
“On the other hand, there can be no secrets or opacity during a fishing trip that is broadcast on Instagram. [...] We talked about earthworms, corn,” Paluckas said when asked what was discussed among himself, Barštys and Malinauskas.
No business or political questions were raised by the owner of the farm, Paluckas assured: “I think he is having a good time in his retirement, and we could all be envious of such conditions in retirement.”
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