Lithuania’s agriculture ministry to appoint two new deputy ministers, first named Tuesday

Lithuania’s Ministry of Agriculture will fill its two vacant deputy minister positions, with the first candidate to be announced on Tuesday, Agriculture Minister Andrius Palionis told public broadcaster LRT.

Speaking to the ELTA news agency, Palionis confirmed that one deputy minister—replacing Artūras Pekauskas, dismissed in January—will be presented this week, while the second appointee will be named next week.

“The deputy minister should arrive on Tuesday,” Palionis said, adding that the second candidate has already undergone vetting, including clearance from the State Security Department. That appointee is finalising their current employment before taking office, with an announcement expected next week.

The ministry’s two deputy minister posts became vacant after Pekauskas and another official, Mindaugas Petkevičius, left their roles in January. At the time, Palionis claimed both had resigned voluntarily, though the opposition Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union (LVŽS) linked their departures to a dispute over ministerial appointments with the ruling “Nemuno aušra” party.

The second incoming deputy minister will replace Arūnas Jagminas, a “Nemuno aušra” nominee who resigned in March amid a corruption probe. Investigators allege Jagminas, while heading a state-owned entity in Šilutė district, misused his position and squandered high-value assets belonging to a company under his supervision. He was dismissed from his ministry post and suspended from his party following the allegations.