Former prime minister sought to include corruption suspect in 2016 election list, claims ex-MP
Former Lithuanian parliament member Povilas Urbšys has alleged that Saulius Skvernelis, then a candidate for the Seimas with the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union (LVŽS), pushed in 2016 to include Agnė Silickienė—a current suspect in a high-profile corruption case—on the party’s electoral list, LRT reports.
Urbšys, a former Special Investigations Service officer, told LRT Television that Skvernelis directly proposed Silickienė’s name during candidate selection. “When we started compiling that top ten [list], he specifically mentioned her surname. I asked him, ‘What are you doing? We’re preparing to be a different kind of choice, and the Social Democrats and conservatives will start attacking us,’” Urbšys recalled.
He claimed he had known of Silickienė due to her husband, Saulius Silickas, who was convicted of abuse of office in 2013. Urbšys said he ultimately persuaded Skvernelis to exclude her, though he suspected Skvernelis later ensured her involvement in politics regardless. “I basically poked him in the eye with my finger, because in November 2016, the Financial Crime Investigation Service raided her home over her husband’s ties to a company suspected of misusing EU funds,” Urbšys said, questioning how Skvernelis could overlook the risks.
Silickienė is now accused of acting as an intermediary in a bribery scheme involving the State Plant Service, allegedly delivering at least €51,000 in cash to Skvernelis—then Speaker of the Seimas—in exchange for political favours. Prosecutors allege the payments, recorded under the codename “Krabas” (Crab), were part of a broader corruption network distributing monthly bribes from plant and produce transporters. Skvernelis denies the allegations, stating he had no knowledge of the scheme.
Fifteen individuals face pre-trial charges in the case, including former Agriculture Minister Kazys Starkevičius. Skvernelis, who became prime minister after the 2016 elections, has previously dismissed the claims as politically motivated.