Environment ministry selects department head as agency leadership search paused

The Environment Ministry has selected a winner for the Environmental Protection Department leadership competition, while the search for a new head of the Environmental Protection Agency will be handled by the incoming government, Environment Minister Kastytis Žuromskas told BNS.

“A winner has indeed been selected for the Environmental Protection Department competition. The Public Governance Agency has been informed, and we have now requested references for the candidate from the other responsible institutions—the Special Investigation Service and the State Security Department,” the minister said on Tuesday.

According to the 15min news portal, the winner is Edgaras Skrebė, head of the Vilnius Environmental Protection Division of the department. However, Žuromskas declined to confirm this, stating: “I cannot comment because the procedures are still ongoing.”

Skrebė also declined to comment to BNS: “I am not commenting on this matter right now. You should ask the Environment Ministry. (…) If I take up the position—if I have indeed won—then it will be possible to comment.”

Žuromskas noted that the Special Investigation Service check could take up to 10 working days, while the State Security Department’s review might take up to 20. However, he expressed hope that the checks would be completed more quickly.

Meanwhile, the competition for the new head of the Environmental Protection Agency, announced in late March as current director Milda Račienė’s five-year term nears its end, has been suspended. “A new political leadership will arrive and announce the competition themselves to avoid any nuances or additional questions. We will leave it to the new political leadership,” the minister said.

The Delfi news portal was the first to report the suspension of the agency’s leadership competition.

Žuromskas explained that the department head competition was not suspended because all selection procedures had already been completed: “The selection was made before we became aware of the political situation. There were 37 candidates, it was a large competition, and everything was done according to procedure.”

The ministry announced the department head competition on February 19. The new director will be appointed to a five-year term, with the possibility of a five-year extension.

In February, Elanas Jablonskas, deputy director of the Special Investigation Service, raised questions about why the environment minister had not yet appointed a head for the department. The first competition was announced last October after former director Giedrius Kadziauskas unexpectedly resigned. Eglė Paužuolienė, who had been temporarily leading the institution, won that competition, but Žuromskas decided to launch a new selection process, which took place in February. He stated at the time that he wanted to attract more participants.