Against the backdrop of the Farm Service scandal: staff haven't seen a politician's wife for two years (VIDEO)

New unpleasant developments at the State Plant Production Service (SPS). It emerges that for almost two years, the employees of the State Agency for Agriculture and Livestock have not seen the wife of Social Democrat Linas Jonauskas, Member of the Seimas, chairman of the Committee on Environmental Protection, who worked for the service.

Simonas Pusvaškis, the director of the State Plant Breeding Service (SPB), which is at the epicentre of the corruption scandal, assured journalists on Thursday that the wife of Mr Jonauskas would soon be dismissed by mutual agreement of the parties.

S. Pusvaškis also said that structural changes were already being prepared at the State Plant Breeding Service, but he was not aware whether the service would be merged with the State Food and Veterinary Service (VMVT). Only after a supplementary question did he admit that such plans had indeed been drawn up as early as 2023, when Ingrida Šimonytė, a conservative, was in charge of the government.

S.Pusvaškis himself is also a member of the TS-LKD party, but assured that he did not see anything wrong with this.

New scandalous facts about the State Plant Breeding Service are coming to light at a time when the Special Investigation Service (STT) is conducting a wide-ranging pre-trial investigation into possible corruption in the State Plant Breeding Service and the possible influence of politicians on the decisions related to this scandal.

In December last year, officers arrested a total of 13 people in the course of an investigation into particularly large-scale corruption in the State Service for Plant Production. On Monday, Prosecutor Urbelis confirmed that the number of suspects in this investigation had risen to 14.

Raids were also carried out at the homes and offices of the leader of the Democratic Party "In the Name of Lithuania", Sauliaus Skvernelis, and the former Minister of Agriculture, Kazis Starkiewicz, in the Seimas. They have been granted the status of special witnesses.

According to the pre-trial investigation, representatives of companies transporting plants and plant products were systematically demanded and received bribes of a high value for phytosanitary certificates issued by the State Plant Production Service to the transporters of these goods. 

Among the suspects are the now suspended Director of the State Plant Breeding Service Yuriy Kornijenko, his deputy Mantas Butas, his advisor Agnė Silickienė, the head of the Alytus regional department Giedrius Urbelionis and the interim head of the Kaunas regional department Dalia Šubonienė.

They are suspected of bribery in an organised group. Suspicions of bribery, bribery and influence peddling in an organised group have also been brought against 7 managers of private companies and related persons.

In more than 100 searches, more than €1.3 million in cash, 8 kilograms of gold worth about €1 million, 11,000 cigarette packs, 14,000 litres of alcohol, cocaine and explosives were seized.

The current head of the VAT, S. Pusvaškis, was appointed by the Minister of Agriculture, Andrius Palionis.

According to the coalition agreement, the Ministry of Agriculture went to " "Nemunas aušra", but it was Palionis who increased the coefficient of the official salary of Yuri Kornijenko, a little over a month before the searches and arrests by the STS.

Deputy Director of the STT Elan Jablonskas assured that after each pre-trial investigation, the service's experts assess the risks.

For more detailed interviews with S. Pusvaškis and E. Jablonskas, please watch this „Agrobitė play“ episode.