Lithuanian prosecutors are seeking to lift the parliamentary immunity of lawmaker Saulius Skvernelis, alleging he accepted at least €51,000 in cash bribes in exchange for political favours linked to the State Plant Service.
Prosecutor General Nida Grunskienė has formally requested that his immunity be lifted, setting out allegations that stretch from June to November of last year.
Skvernelis said he was surprised by the Prosecutor General's decision to seek his immunity. He subsequently announced he was suspending his membership and leadership of the Democrats' Union "For Lithuania".
According to the prosecution's document, the scheme was orchestrated by Jurijus Kornijenko, the former head of the State Plant Service, together with his adviser Aurelijus Šapranauskas and others.
From June 2025, the group allegedly distributed monthly bribes to members of a criminal network and other individuals – among them Skvernelis, who was assigned the codename "Crab" in ledgers used to record the payments.
Prosecutors allege that Kornijenko passed monthly sums to Skvernelis' aide, Agnė Silickienė, who then delivered a total of €51,000 to the lawmaker in several instalments of between €5,000 and €10,000.
The prosecutor's document states that Skvernelis received the money "for his political favouritism in exercising powers related to State Plant Service activities" –specifically for shielding the service from scrutiny following complaints, securing Kornijenko's position as director, and helping to select staff who would facilitate the bribery scheme.
Fourteen individuals have been charged in the pre-trial investigation into corruption at the plant service. Prosecutors allege that between February and May 2025, Kornijenko and associates – acting as an organised group – agreed to accept bribes from company representatives in exchange for issuing phytosanitary certificates without physically inspecting cargo, or in cases where the cargo was not even present in Lithuania.
They allegedly agreed to "accept cash from companies, totalling at least 18,500 euros each month, with a fee of at least €250 per certificate issued for plant and plant product shipments.
Between June and December 2025, members of the group are said to have received at least €1.112 million in bribes through Šapranauskas, relating to certificates issued by staff at the service's Kaunas and Alytus regional units.
Portions of that sum were allegedly passed on to state politicians, including Skvernelis, in return for political cover.
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