STT declines to investigate Ruginienė over customs chief contest

Lithuania’s Special Investigation Service will not investigate whether former Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė helped the brother of her former bodyguard win a competition to lead the Customs Department, LRT reported on Friday.

The agency said it had found no signs of corruption in the actions of Ruginienė or then Finance Minister Kristupas Vaitiekūnas when Mantas Matulionis was declared the competition’s winner. It declined to open a pre-trial investigation, but said it could reconsider if other institutions provide important new information.

The request for an investigation came from conservative politician Dalia Asanavičiūtė-Gružauskienė, who asked the agency to determine whether Ruginienė had unlawfully instructed the Finance Ministry to name Matulionis the winner, according to 15min.

Matulionis is taking legal action against the ministry, which has not appointed him to lead the department. After challenging the results of an earlier competition, he was named winner in a second selection following an undisclosed visit to Ruginienė. His sister had worked on her close-protection team while Ruginienė led the government. The meeting also included Vaitiekūnas and Matulionis.

The ministry announced the new competition in April after ending an earlier one in March. The earlier competition had been won by current deputy director Žaneta Rudaitienė. The department is currently headed on an interim basis by deputy director Vygantas Paigozinas.