Lithuanian lawmakers to examine Innovation Agency restructuring

Lithuania’s parliamentary Anti-Corruption Commission will examine whether the Innovation Agency’s restructuring is being carried out transparently, LRT reported. The committee is scheduled to discuss the matter on Wednesday after agency employees raised concerns about planned layoffs and appointments to new management posts.

In their appeal, employees questioned plans to dismiss 55 staff members, create new senior roles and appoint people to them without competitions. They also said the structural changes had not been coordinated with employee representatives under the required procedure and that no objective assessment of the restructuring had been carried out.

The commission will examine whether the requirements of the Corruption Prevention Law were followed when people were appointed to management positions, including checks on their reliability. It said the agency contacted the Special Investigation Service to vet some department heads only after the commission began looking into the issue. According to the committee, the agency did not request checks on the appointed deputy directors.

The agency is due to begin operating under a revised structure in October, aligned with its 2026-2030 strategy. It says the changes will affect almost all departments and divisions: some will be eliminated, others merged, and new units established. Some managers will also change.

The new structure will divide the agency’s activities into content and administration. The agency previously said some management positions would be filled by existing staff.

Plans to reduce staffing were announced in July. The Ministry of Economy and Innovation said it expected the agency to improve its efficiency. Agency head Monika Paulė confirmed that the changes would affect employees but did not specify how many people could be dismissed.