Lingė seeks tougher rules for state property auctions

Seimas member Mindaugas Lingė has proposed tighter rules for state and municipal property auctions, including greater transparency, longer registration periods and an anti-speculation measure, LRT reported.

The amendments would require auctions to be publicised more widely, give participants more time to register and take part, and remove registration fees. An auction with only one participant would not be considered completed.

Lingė said a 2024 reform transferred more than 112,000 hectares of state-owned land in cities and towns to municipalities under the right of trust management. However, an assessment by the Special Investigation Service found that in 44 percent of cases, state or municipal property was sold at the starting price with only one participant bidding.

“The success” of Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius at an auction shows the need to clarify the rules, Lingė said. He referred to a plot that Sinkevičius, then mayor, bought from the state for 11,670 euros as the sole auction participant and later sold for 55,000 euros.

Lingė said other state land auctions in the same district that year attracted an average of five participants, with prices sometimes increasing tenfold.

His proposed anti-speculation rule would require people who quickly resell state property for a large profit to return part of the proceeds to the state.

Lingė also said conflicts of interest should be managed more strictly. People who had prepared a plot for sale or had access to inside information would not be allowed to participate in the auction.

“When state property is sold without competition and then quickly resold for a huge profit, every taxpayer loses,” Lingė said.

The proposed amendments to the laws governing state and municipal property management and land are to be submitted to the Seimas for consideration. If approved, they are expected to reduce corruption risks and increase budget revenues from property sales.

LRT’s Investigative Department reported that in January 2024, the government transferred 457 state-owned plots to the Jonavos District Municipality for management under the right of trust, as part of a reform of the National Land Service.

One of the plots was located on Jono Basanavičiaus Street in central Jonava. Sinkevičius bought the 38.2-are plot in May 2024 for the starting price of 11,670 euros, being the only auction participant. The Jurbarkas-based company Fondatum bought it from him in 2025 for 55,000 euros. One of the company’s ultimate beneficial owners at the time was Labour Party politician Viktoras Uspaskichas.

LRT’s Investigative Department reported that the plot now contains the Smart Wash car wash, owned by Fondatum. Sinkevičius has said he bought the plot as an ordinary citizen and did not interfere in the decision-making process.