Translated material
Uspskikh resigned
Lithuanians did not believe the ethics and diploma of the Russian minister
Today, Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas will accept the resignation of Minister of Economy Viktor Uspaskich. The head of the Labor Party, which is part of the government coalition, voluntarily leaves the cabinet and at the same time renounces his deputy mandate. Last Friday, Mr. Uspaskich sent relevant petitions to the head of government and the speaker of the Seimas. The previously published verdict of the Main Ethics Commission stated that the minister violated the law on the coordination of official and private interests in the public service.Members of the commission found that Mr. Uspaskich, using his official position, patronized “his people” both in the distribution of financial assistance from EU funds and in concluding lucrative contracts with the Moscow government on the revival of the Lithuanian Trading House, the creation of a logistics center, etc. At the same time, Lithuanian media questioned the authenticity of his higher education diploma. A request sent to Moscow received an answer: Viktor Uspaskich is not on the list of graduates of the former Academy of National Economy named after. Plekhanov. And in official documents, Uspaskich claimed that he graduated from this educational institution in 1993. In addition, a certain document was found, dated 1995, with the seal and signature of Uspaskich, in which he reports that he has a secondary technical education. The former minister has already stated that he does not recognize the commission’s conclusions and will challenge them in court.
Viktor Uspaskich comes from the Arkhangelsk region; he came to Lithuania during the years of perestroika with a team of gas workers. The entrepreneur announced his “march to power” in 2000 at the next congress of the Confederation of Lithuanian Employers, which he headed. His goal was to create a political climate favorable to business development. As a result of the 2000 elections, many entrepreneurs became deputies of the Sejm, and Mr. Uspaskich headed the economic committee of the parliament.
In the fall of 2003, he created the Labor Party. The rapid growth of her popularity caused a real stir in the ranks of the political elite. Everything possible was done to prevent the Labor Party from gaining more than half the votes in the 2004 elections and, as a result, to prevent it from forming its own government. As a result, a four-party coalition was formed led by Brazauskas.
The resignation of the head of the Labor Party should not destroy the government coalition, says Parliament Speaker Arturas Paulauskas. He said that he sees no reason to hold early elections, since “there are no members of the Seimas who could vote for the dissolution of parliament and early elections.” The Labor Party is the leading force in the ruling coalition. She holds 51 seats out of 141 in the Sejm, and five portfolios out of 15 in the government.