Millions in bribes and a minister's pay rise: who really "exceeded expectations" in the VAT scandal?

As the Special Investigation Service (SIT) continues its extensive pre-trial investigation into alleged corruption in the State Service for Plant Production (SSP), the eyes are also turning to the Minister of Agriculture Andrius Palionis. Last November, the latter increased the salary of the then head of the VAT, Yuri Kornijenko, as „exceeding expectations“. About a month later, Mr Kornijenko found himself at the centre of an unprecedented corruption investigation.

Unprecedented bribes, 100 searches

  Agrobite“ recalls that on 11 December last year, the head of the State Plant Breeding Service, Yuriy Kornijenko, other employees and private individuals, 14 in total, were brought under suspicion during an investigation into possible corruption crimes in connection with bribes amounting to €1.5 million.

The Director of the Service Mr Kornijenko, his Deputy Mr Mantas Butas, the advisors of the Service Mr Aurelijs Šapranauskas and Ms Agne Silickiene, the interim head of the Kaunas Regional Division Ms Dalia Šubonienė, the head of the Alytus Regional Division Mr Giedrius Urbelionis have been charged with bribery in the context of acting in an organised group.

As the Special Investigation Service (STT) and the General Prosecutor's Office stated in a joint report, suspicions have also been brought against the managers of 7 private companies and related persons.

„There are also others who are private, non-public persons who took part in the complex bribery scheme that was identified“, – said Artūras Urbelis, Chief Prosecutor of the Organized Crime and Corruption Investigation Department of the Prosecutor General's Office at the time.

More than 100 searches were carried out, and €1.3 million in cash, 8 kilograms of gold worth about €1 million, explosives and cocaine were found.

Law enforcement suspects that the total amount of the bribes could have reached €1.5 million. "We are talking about sums of money that exceed the amount of 250 MGL (12.5 thousand euros – BNS), which are serious criminal offences," prosecutor A. Urbelis said.

The STT has crossed again

Until last Monday, it might have seemed that the investigation had slowed down, but already on 9 February, Lithuania was shocked by another piece of news. The STT announced that it had searched the offices in the Seimas and the homes of the Democratic leader Saul Skvernelis and the conservative leader Kazis Starkiewicz.

They have been granted the status of special witnesses, which usually means that a person may have information about his or her own possible actions, but it does not constitute a statement of suspicion.

On two occasions during his career (9 December 2008 – 13 December 2012 and 13 August 2024 – 12 December 2024) Starkevičius, who headed the Ministry of Agriculture, has announced that he is suspending his membership of the TS-LKD party.

„(...) I understand the sensitivity of such events, so while the investigation is ongoing, I do not want to cause additional reputational damage to my political community. I am calm, I will cooperate with law enforcement and any questions will be answered by the investigating officers," the politician wrote on the social networking site „Facebook“.

For his part, the leader of the party „In the Name of Lithuania“, S. Skvernelis, did not suspend his membership, although in the past he had suggested that people who were involved in similar situations should resign from their positions. 

On Tuesday, Starkevičius visited the STT for about half an hour, but it is not clear whether he was questioned.

Investigating possible political influence

According to prosecutor Urbelis, one of the theories being investigated is that of possible "political favours in the exercise of powers" in the context of systemic corruption.

Systemic corruption refers to a continuous, long-lasting process, which is why the STT is also questioning politicians who may have been influenced. However, it is unclear what timeframe the investigators are covering in their efforts to interview Skvernelis and Starkevičius.

According to the Constitution, members of the Seimas can only be prosecuted with the authorisation of the Seimas. Urbelis said that it was still early to appeal to the Parliament for the abolition of the legal immunity of the aforementioned MPs.

The CST's proceedings against the politicians indicate that the investigation is being widened to investigate possible links or chains of influence, which the prosecutor's office is referring to.

Certificates were issued to transport products to third countries

According to the investigation of the STT, large bribes were allegedly systematically demanded and received from representatives of companies transporting plants and plant products in order to obtain the phytosanitary certificates issued by the Plant Protection Service to the transporters of such goods.

„A phytosanitary certificate is a document that enables an operator transporting products of plant origin to ensure legal imports into third countries. The certificate certifies that the produce complies with the phytosanitary requirements of third countries. Bribes were paid for the quick and smooth issuance of such certificates," explained Dainius Januška, Head of the Central Investigation Department of the STT.

The investigation involves well-known figures              

Although the prosecutor neither denied nor confirmed the specific private individuals involved in the massive bribery scandal, for example, LNK Žinios reported that one of the suspects is Marijanas Taraškevičius, who has already been convicted for cigarette smuggling.  

The media also reported that in December, the STT had also detained Vitalija Vonžutaitė, a former member of the Seimas, who had been convicted in the Labour Party's "black bookkeeping" case back in 2017. She is the former spouse of Sergejs Fedotovs, the long-standing director of the State Plant Breeding Service.

The prosecutor's office says it is investigating a version of the case of possible political favouritism, which is why proceedings are also being carried out against politicians.

For example, Mr Fedotov served as head of the VAT for the entire period when Mr Skvernelis was Prime Minister (2016-2020).

He did not receive a DSS certificate for a long time

It was during Skvernel's premiership that Fedotov returned to head the State Service for Plant Production for the second time in 2019. As a reminder, after the end of his first term in office, at the end of August 2018, Mr Fedotov also won a new competition for the post of Director of the SAC. The Prime Minister was S. Skvernelis.

For some time, Mr Fedotov was unable to return to his post as Director because the DSS did not provide him with a certificate allowing him to work with classified information for quite some time. The certificate was received in January 2019.

The same year, Andrius Palionis became Minister of Agriculture for the first time. He served in the Skvernelis government from August 2019 until 10 December 2020

During this period, as Minister of Agriculture, Mr Palionis worked with Mr Fedotov as head of an institution that was subordinate to the Ministry.

Change of managers in the State Service for Plant Production

After Fedotov's second term of office ended in January 2024, the agency was temporarily headed by Simonas Pusvaškis, who was appointed by the then head of the Ministry of Agriculture, the conservative Kęstutis Navickas.

S. Pusvaškis is a candidate in the 2019 and 2023 municipal elections on the TS-LKD list.

The competition for the new head of the State Plant Breeding Service was delayed, but practically on his last days in office (17 October), when it was already clear that the conservatives were handing over power to the "Social Democrats", the then Minister of Agriculture, Kazys Starkevičius, appointed Yuri Kornijenko as the director of the SAB. Prior to this appointment, Mr Kornijenko worked as Head of the Corruption Prevention and Internal Investigation Division of the Ministry of Agriculture.

After the parliamentary elections, the Ministry of Agriculture was given to Remigijus Žemaitkaitis' "Nemunas aušra" (Dawn of Nemunas) under a coalition agreement, but things did not go well. Ignas Hofmanas, who headed the MAA before leaving the post last August, said he had received pressure from Žemakaitis to sack the heads of some of the MAA's subordinate bodies, which he later commented to the STT as „private conversations“, without any serious evidence.

After his appointment as head of the MAA, Palionis did not initiate the dismissal of Mr Kornijenko, but later decided to increase the coefficient of his official salary.

Increased Mr Kornijenka's salary

In the context of the STJ investigation, the Minister of Agriculture, A. Palionis, has admitted that he had received complaints about the State Crop Production Service headed by Mr Kornijenko as early as in the first months of 2025 (at that time, Mr Palionis was Deputy Minister).

„We had anonymous complaints in the ministry and we had complaints from the sector as well, (…) in February-March it started, we contacted the authorities“, – Palionis told journalists in December 2025.

At that time, according to the minister's order, Palionis decided to increase the coefficient of Kornijenko's official salary.

After an extraordinary evaluation of Mr Kornijenko's performance, Mr Palionis himself assessed his performance as „exceeding expectations“. This decision was formalised by a decree of the Minister of Agriculture on 3 November 2025.

Mr Palionis was approached by Mr Kornijenko himself about the salary increase.

A little more than a month later, STT agents carried out searches and arrests and Mr Kornijenko was suspended from his duties. Palionis appointed S. Pusvaskis, who had previously run on the TS-LKD list, to replace him.

Political margins

The STT's investigation has a political flavour, as well as the allegations against Agne Silickiene, an advisor to the State Plant Breeding Service, who represented the Saul Skvernelis-led „Vardan Lietuvos“ party in the Chief Election Commission. The woman had to suspend her membership of the party, in addition to resigning from the SCC.

In the context of the investigation, Silickienė's environment is also mentioned. Her spouse Saulius Silickas used to head the National Paying Agency (2005-2013), but it has not been announced whether these links would be assessed in this investigation.

In the context of the investigation, representatives of different political forces are also mentioned, but there are no public disclosures that would indicate coordinated actions between them.

Publicly available data show that before the STT searches, Palionis did not make any personnel changes in the management of the Plant Production Service.

It is also interesting to note that during the Conservatives' reign (2023-2024), plans were prepared to abolish the State Service for Plant Breeding and merge it with the State Service for Food and Veterinary Medicine.

S. Skvernelis says he has done nothing criminal

S. Skvernelis, leader of the democratic group "In the name of Lithuania", said he had committed no crime after searches of the Seimas and his home.

„I am calm, I have not done anything criminal. The services are doing their job. I will certainly not start saying that there is some kind of political crackdown. The services are doing their job, and I respect that job. In a state governed by the rule of law, I will have to defend myself by legal means," the politician stressed. There are no suspicions. I can't comment much more, because I signed a non-comment“.

Asked whether he would waive his legal immunity if the Prosecutor General asked the Seimas to lift it, Skvernelis said he hoped that this would not be necessary. However, the politician stressed that he would not hide behind his parliamentary mandate in such a situation.

How this STT investigation will end, and whether it will expand, is partly the responsibility of the General Prosecutor's Office itself. A. Urbelis, Chief Prosecutor of the Organised Crime and Corruption Investigation Department, said that this is "one of the most spectacular bribery schemes".

„Mailiaus“ millions: will history repeat itself?

This is not the first time that scandals have erupted in the agricultural support system, affecting both officials and politicians.

„Agrobitė“ recalls that in 2010 the country was rocked by the so-called „mailius case“, when the Financial Crimes Investigation Service (FNTT) launched an investigation into an alleged attempt to fraudulently obtain around LTL 22.5 million (about EUR 6.5 million) in EU support for aquaculture projects.

The funds were supposed to reach the NMA, which was headed by Mr Silickas at the time. The prosecutor's office had filed suspicions against him for possible abuse of office.

In March of the same year, K. Starkevičius, then Minister of Agriculture, was also questioned as a special witness. He was never charged.

The FNTT suspected that several interconnected companies had applied for aid, declared their intention to farm fish fry and were given favourable opinions by the State Food and Veterinary Office. This led to the resignation of Kazimieras Lukauskis, the then director of the VMVT, in the summer of the same year.

Despite the high-profile investigation, in October 2013 the Vilnius City District Court found two of the defendants guilty and acquitted the remaining seven.