From mayor to courtroom to Gediminas Avenue: what we know about future PM Sinkevičius

After the Social Democrats, Democrats and Farmers-Greens agreed on a new ruling majority, it has been confirmed that Lithuania’s next prime minister will be Mindaugas Sinkevičius, the chairman of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP).

Sinkevičius, who turns 42 on 20 June, is best known as the mayor of Jonava District, but his political career has taken him from local government to national office and back, according to a profile by LRT.lt and BNS.

His political path began in Jonava, where he was elected to the municipal council in 2007. A year later, he became deputy mayor, and in 2011 he was elected mayor. He left Jonava in 2016 to serve as economy minister (now economy and innovation) after the Social Democrats formed a coalition with the Farmers-Greens, who had won the parliamentary elections.

His tenure as minister was short-lived. Within a year, then-LSDP leader Gintautas Paluckas pushed the party to break the coalition. While some Social Democrats chose to stay in the coalition and left the party, Sinkevičius resigned as minister. He later recalled that both Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis and Farmers-Greens leader Ramūnas Karbauskis had urged him to stay, but he refused, calling his departure a political decision, not a result of mistakes.

After leaving the ministry, Sinkevičius did not immediately return to local politics. Instead, he spent a year and a half as director of Jonava Water. He was re-elected mayor in 2019.

His political star rose further when he became president of the Lithuanian Municipalities Association in 2019, making him one of the most visible mayors in the country. His position within the Social Democrats also strengthened, with some already seeing him as a future prime minister.

However, his career hit a major obstacle with the “čekiukai” (receipts) scandal. In 2023, Sinkevičius faced allegations of causing 1,487 euros in property damage to the Jonava District Municipality administration between 2019 and 2023. Investigators claimed that as mayor, he used funds allocated for a council member’s activities to purchase two televisions and other communication services. Following the accusations, he suspended his LSDP membership, and the Municipalities Association suspended his powers as its president.

Sinkevičius has maintained his innocence, stating he does not feel he committed any wrongdoing or crime.