Rimvydas Jasinavičius built a business after serving as minister

Rimvydas Jasinavičius went from leading a factory to serving as Lithuania’s industry minister and later co-founding Bennet Distributors. In an interview with LRT Radio’s Pas Nemira, reported by LRT, he discussed his career and his current work promoting financial literacy.

An engineer and inventor, Jasinavičius began his career in 1961 at the Vilma factory, where he worked for almost three decades and spent five years as general director. The company made audio and other information-recording equipment, including cassette players. Although it did not manufacture weapons, it was part of the military-industrial complex and, he said, was monitored by the KGB.

After the founding congress of Sąjūdis, Jasinavičius and other company heads began looking for ways to move Lithuanian industry out of the Soviet economic system, which they believed was holding it back. He recalled that factories could not obtain materials from a nearby company without approval from Moscow.

Jasinavičius and his colleagues proposed creating an association so Lithuanian manufacturers could cooperate, share experience and secure raw materials. More than 1,000 company heads attended the founding congress of the Lithuanian Industrialists Association on June 17, 1989. Despite concerns among some delegates that his previous senior role in the Soviet system meant he would favour Moscow, Jasinavičius won the presidency with 980 votes, against about 36 for the other candidate.

His work with the association helped lead Kazimira Prunskienė and Vytautas Landsbergis to invite him to join Lithuania’s first government after the restoration of independence. He headed the Industry Ministry during a period when Lithuania faced an economic blockade and shortages.

Jasinavičius said the manufacturers’ earlier cooperation helped companies obtain and share supplies. He said Lithuania lost about 2.5 million roubles in revenue each day during the blockade, with total losses of nearly 200 million roubles over 75 days. The Industry Ministry, he said, was the only ministry to record growth that year, at half a percent.

After leaving government, Jasinavičius co-founded Bennet Distributors and built a business worth millions. He is now an honorary professor at Mykolas Romeris University and focuses on financial literacy. He believes education should extend beyond academic knowledge.