Lithuania’s culture ministry not preparing LRT law amendments for public service contract

The Lithuanian culture ministry is not preparing amendments to the Law on Lithuanian Radio and Television (LRT) to introduce a public service contract between the government and the national broadcaster, Deputy Culture Minister Viktoras Denisenko confirmed to BNS.

“The mandate was formulated based on the priorities of that time and anticipated matters. However, the law adopted by the Seimas does not include a public service contract, so the mandate regarding the funding model remains,” Denisenko said.

A working group that drafted the LRT law amendments had asked the Seimas Board in March to request the government prepare LRT law amendments by September 1. These were intended to establish principles for a public service mandate contract, ensuring a clear link between the public broadcaster’s functions, their scope, quality parameters, and allocated state funding, as well as principles of editorial independence, stable financing, and accountability as set out in the European Media Freedom Act.

The group also requested a national broadcaster funding model compliant with European Commission rules.

Denisenko noted that the question of how LRT should be funded remains relevant due to concerns over a frozen budget and state aid issues raised by the European Commission. He added that internal discussions are currently underway on how the national broadcaster should be financed.

Earlier, a group of MPs—Artūras Zuokas, Indrė Kižienė, Roma Janušonienė, Ligita Girskienė, Kęstutis Vilkauskas, and Vytautas Grubliauskas—had proposed amending the law to include a public service mandate contract between the government and LRT. However, during discussions in the Culture Committee in April, its chairman, K. Vilkauskas, suggested rejecting his own proposal, as the Seimas Board had already asked the government to prepare the amendments by September 1. The proposal was ultimately not adopted.

This week, Vilkauskas told BNS he hoped the Culture Ministry was preparing a project on how the public service mandate contract mechanism should function. “Since we have already adopted the LRT law, the funding model and service contract will now go hand in hand, I think. That is logical. There is a question of what the state should pay for, what content,” he said.

The Venice Commission has noted that public service contract models are not inherently incompatible with international standards, provided they include specific guarantees to protect against government influence on editorial content and ensure the broadcaster’s statutory mandate is preserved regardless of its contractual status.

Both LRT’s administration and its council oppose public service contracts. LRT Director General Monika Garbačiauskaitė-Budrienė has previously stated that such contracts would turn the broadcaster into a “puppet tool” of the government.