Lithuanian minister and Nemunas Dawn official linked to cash-backed party donations

Data gathered by Lithuanian investigative journalists suggests that part of the funding received by the political party Nemunas Dawn was preceded by cash deposits into donors’ bank accounts. Among those who supported the party in this way was the current environment minister, Kastytis Žuromskas, as well as several individuals linked to the party’s deputy chairman, Robertas Puchovičius.

Puchovičius previously denied that any cash reached the party’s coffers either through him or through people close to him.

When approached by journalists, Žuromskas insisted he had not deposited cash before transferring a €2,500 donation to the party.

“No, no, I did not deposit cash. You have incorrect information. I donated my personal funds to the party and, as far as I recall, no cash was deposited,” he said.

However, documents obtained by investigative reporters indicate that on October 9, 2024, during the parliamentary election campaign, Žuromskas deposited €2,500 in cash into his account. Before the deposit, the balance stood at just over €100. On the same day, he transferred €2,500 to Nemunas Dawn as a campaign donation.

After this investigation was first published in Lithuanian, Žuromskas confirmed that he had indeed used cash in October 2024 when donating €2,500 to the party. In a video posted on Facebook, he acknowledged his mistake and described his earlier statements to the contrary as “unfortunate.”

For this investigation into the financing of the Nemunas Dawn party, investigative journalists from different media outlets –LRT, Delfi, 15min, Redakcija and Siena –joined forces for the first time.

Working together, they gathered strong evidence that at least five members of Nemunas Dawn, including Minister Žuromskas, made donations to the party using cash they had deposited into their bank accounts shortly beforehand, despite previously lacking sufficient funds to make those transfers.

Altogether, party members are estimated to have contributed at least €13,500 in this way.

The data also show that other individuals made sizeable donations to Nemunas Dawn, and that some of them had received payments from the party’s vice-chairman and current MP, Robertas Puchovičius, before contributing. In total, at least 17 generous donors are linked to Puchovičius, including his wife, brother, father, brother-in-law, neighbour, childhood friends and business associates.

In 2024, Puchovičius himself donated €24,000 to the party. Including contributions from people connected to him, nearly €60,000 was given to Nemunas Dawn.

Official records indicate that although Puchovičius holds no funds in banks, he has declared nearly half a million euros in cash. He denies any role in distributing money to others.

“Are you asking whether I gave people cash, or whether someone from my circle did? Have you seen anyone handing out cash?” he said. “That did not happen. I am not interested in how people donate. They made their own decision – whether to deposit cash or transfer it from another account. That is their choice.”

Short on funds – then suddenly sufficient

Environment Minister Žuromskas transferred €2,500 to Nemunas Dawn in October 2024, after first depositing the same amount in cash into his account. The donation was made to support the party’s parliamentary election campaign. Žuromskas stood as a candidate on the party list and in a single-member constituency but was not elected.

This was not his only contribution. On July 8, 2024 he attempted to transfer €2,500 to the party’s campaign account. The following day, the sum was returned as an inadmissible donation – typically a sign that the amount exceeded what was permitted under his officially declared income.

Questioned by prosecutors, Žuromskas said he did not know why the transfer had been rejected.

“It may have been a technical issue, or perhaps something was filled in incorrectly. There could also have been a detail related to the rule that donations cannot exceed 10% of a person’s declared income,” he said.

However, the rejected donation did not deter him. On July 9, right after receiving the refunded sum, he transferred €2,500 to the party again – this time as a membership fee. In total, he says he contributed €5,000 of his personal funds to Nemunas Dawn in 2024.

In April that year, he also donated €2,900 to the presidential campaign of the party’s leader, Remigijus Žemaitaitis. That payment was made before the annual asset declaration deadline and was therefore recorded in the previous year’s declaration.

Official data show that in 2024 Žuromskas declared €19,000 in bank deposits and €20,000 held in cash – the same figures as in 2023. He told journalists he had provided prosecutors with documentation explaining the origin of his funds.

After failing to win a parliamentary seat, Žuromskas was appointed deputy environment minister in early 2025 and became environment minister last September. Asked at the time whether he had helped secure the post for his associate, Puchovičius denied any influence, though he acknowledged their links, describing Žuromskas as a consultant to one of his companies.

“We had no joint business ties. He only provided consultancy services to a company in which I am a shareholder. I am not currently engaged in any activities there,” Puchovičius told LRT in September 2025.

That company, Constructionrk, has been solely owned by Puchovičius since July 2023, with his wife becoming its official director after the parliamentary elections.

Žuromskas may have acted as a consultant to the company, but before that – from 2021 until he sold his shares – he was in fact a co-founder and shareholder of Constructionrk, together with another individual.

“The company was set up for the construction of a particular project. Later, I sold my shares because I withdrew from the project. It’s normal business practice: someone establishes a company, someone else sells. Shares are meant to be sold. I simply had no plans to continue developing the company’s activities,” Žuromskas said recently.

He also acknowledged that it was Puchovičius who encouraged him to enter politics. “We have worked together since around 2020 or earlier. He liked politics and asked for help. That is how my journey began,” said the environment minister.

Donations from close associates

Four other Nemunas Dawn members also donated after depositing cash: Puchovičius’ brother-in-law Konradas Kutyšas, former neighbour Tomas Bogatko, and childhood friends Edvardas Vaskanas and Andrejus Prokopovičius. In each case, their account balances prior to the cash deposits were insufficient to cover the donations made.

Puchovičius’ brother-in-law Kutyšas donated €2,000 in July 2024 after depositing €1,900 in cash. Earlier, Puchovičius had transferred small sums of money to this relative. Kutyšas is yet to respond to journalists' requests for comment.

Puchovičius’ former neighbour Bogatko transferred €3,000 in July 2024 as a membership fee, using cash he had first deposited into his account. €400 was returned, likely due to limits based on his declared income. He told prosecutors the money came from savings set aside for emergencies, including war, and all funds were from his salary.

Bogatko said he left the party at the end of 2024, having initially supported leader Remigijus Žemaitaitis but later lacking the “physical ability to do politics,” though official records don’t yet confirm his resignation. He said he learned about donating from his neighbor, Puchovičius, who explained the membership fee and percentage to contribute, which Bogatko then followed using his reserved cash.

Puchovičius’ childhood friend and former business partner Vaskanas paid €1,500 to Nemunas Dawn in 2024 after depositing cash, despite having only a few hundred euros in his account beforehand. Earlier that year he had received transfers totalling €8,600 from Puchovičius. He declined to comment, saying, “I’ve already been questioned by the Special Investigation Service (STT), everything is fine.”

Another childhood friend of Puchovičius, businessman Prokopovičius told STT he donated €5,000 to the party’s parliamentary election campaign (where he, too, ran, unsuccessfully) after depositing €4,900 in cash.

Like Environment Minister Žuromskas, he downplayed the cash donation, saying he could not recall the details. “It was a long time ago,” he said, adding it was entirely his own decision. “What kind of question is it, where my money came from or why I donated it?”

Not our concern

Puchovičius, the vice-chair of Nemunas Dawn, said it was not his responsibility to verify the origin of donations.

“I have no obligation to check the source of the money. That’s the role of the authorities […] How the money got into someone’s account, or whether they deposited it in cash, is not our concern. Each person makes their own decision,” he said.

Yet questions also surround Puchovičius’ own finances. Official declarations show he held more than €494,000 in cash in 2023 and €455,900 in 2024, with no money in bank accounts. His wife declared more than €100,000 in cash.

He said the funds had accumulated over many years through dividends and asset sales, and that all taxes had been paid.

Two out of three companies linked to him – Tvari statyba and Constructionrk – in 2024 owed a total €574,000 in taxes, mostly unpaid VAT. A bankruptcy case against Constructionrk was launched by the State Tax Inspectorate but later dropped after the debts were recovered.

Puchovičius confirmed he was questioned by investigators over Nemunas Dawn's funding but said authorities were primarily interested in his role as a company director. Prosecutors ended the pre-trial investigation into the party’s campaign finances in February, finding no criminal activity. Under Lithuanian law, criminal liability for illegal political donations applies only when contributions exceed €25,000.

Asked about the large donations to the party from people in his circle, Puchovičius said he does not view them “as relatives or friends.”

“I see them as party members who came to support the party, to help out, to run in future elections, and so on […] Overall, I can say everything is in order. The authorities have checked, and I would also urge journalists to trust the institutions and end this investigation,” said the Nemunas Dawn vice-chair.

From 7 euros to thousands: family and staff donations

Puchovičius told journalists he did not make donations on behalf of his circle, though he acknowledged exceptions. “If my wife donates, I might make transfers for her… same with my father or brother – money moves between close people, but not specifically to support the party,” he said.

Still, his family and close associates donated significant sums to Nemunas Dawn in 2024. His father, Edvardas Puchovičius, a pensioner, paid €2,500 as a membership fee after receiving the same amount from his son – despite only having €7 in his account beforehand. Edvardas declined to comment.

Puchovičius’s brother, Darjušas, transferred €2,300 in July and had previously received nearly €4,000 from his brother over multiple transfers.

Darjušas was appointed adviser to Agriculture Minister Andrius Palionis in January 2025. While Darjušas said he volunteered for the role, his brother Puchovičius said he had suggested Darjušas contact the minister, though the final decision was the minister’s.

Puchovičius’ wife, Eva, also donated €1,500 as a membership fee, having previously received €2,000 from her husband. Over the year, he transferred more than €56,000 to her. Eva now manages key construction companies, runs her own firm, and has served as an assistant to a parliamentary Nemunas Dawn MP Agnė Širinskienė.

Eva told journalists that her donations to the party were made from her personal funds. “My husband transfers money to me every month, I don’t know if you see or know that – it’s unrelated. He makes transfers to me every month,” she explained.

Svetlana Meleško, who currently provides accounting services to Nemunas Dawn, also donated €2,000 in July 2024. She said all funds were transparent and declared to the authorities. Though Meleško refused to discuss her ties to Puchovičius, official data shows that her husband now runs one of Puchovičius’ companies, while she also serves as adviser to Nemunas Dawn MP Dainoras Bradauskas and as a parliamentary faction clerk.

The party of cash pushes to raise the cash limit

Nemunas Dawn has also sought to raise the legal ceiling on cash transactions. Its leader, Remigijus Žemaitaitis, proposed increasing the limit from €5,000 to €15,000, later revising the proposal to €10,000. He argued that the current cap restricts people’s ability to use their own money and would be problematic in an emergency if banking services were disrupted.

Vice-chairman Puchovičius explained the initiative as a way to help citizens: “I’m talking about people who, in the current geopolitical situation, if banks couldn’t operate because of war, could still go to a shop and buy food,” he said.

Since November 2022, cash transactions in Lithuania have been limited to €5,000 in an effort to curb the shadow economy and reduce money laundering risks.

Concerns have already been raised over Nemunas Dawn's finances. In May last year, the Central Electoral Commission (VRK) found that during the 2024 parliamentary elections the party accepted donations from legal entities and concealed some expenses. Election law prohibits legal entities from funding campaigns, which is considered a serious violation of the electoral code.

Last week, the Prosecutor General’s Office said it was assessing new information regarding the party’s financing. It concerns information submitted by communications specialist Karolis Žukauskas about potentially opaque party financing.

Prosecutors also instructed the Special Investigation Service (STT) to examine another allegation regarding the party leadership’s attempt to invite VRK chairwoman Lina Petronienė to a faction meeting – an act considered a possible attempt to unlawfully influence an independent institution and obstruct an investigation.

The invitation to the VRK chair came after the body decided to include the information submitted by Žukauskas in its January investigation into Nemunas Dawn. General Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that prosecutors granted VRK access to all material from the preliminary investigation, which had been closed earlier in the year.

The Special Investigation Service (STT) confirmed it had received a request to examine related matters and would take a procedural decision in accordance with the law.

The Financial Crime Investigation Service also confirmed it is reviewing the new information.