Sinkevičius defends wife’s hiring after LRT investigation

Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius has defended his wife’s employment after an LRT investigation, saying he is proud of her professional path and calling her “a great wife and the mother of our children.”

Speaking on Friday, Sinkevičius said some of the information published in the investigation was untrue or distorted, but he did not specify which details he disputed.

“I am proud of my wife’s professional choices. She is a great wife and the mother of our children,” Sinkevičius said.

He said his wife, Aistė Sinkevičienė, had completed three higher education institutions and could pursue a career regardless of whether she was the prime minister’s or a politician’s wife.

“I see no crime in what was made public, because some of the information does not correspond to reality,” he said.

According to LRT’s investigation, Sinkevičienė is described as an indispensable specialist at Kaunas District Municipality, which is governed by the Social Democratic Party. After she returned from maternity leave, the municipality established a Public and International Relations Department, which she came to lead without a competition.

Sinkevičienė also works at a municipality-controlled public institution at Raudondvaris Manor. Other employees told LRT they had not heard of such a colleague, while her contact details are not publicly available.

The investigation also found that other people linked to the Social Democrats had been employed at the institution, including the spouse of Kaunas District Mayor Valerijus Makūnas, the mayor’s adviser Loreta Navakauskienė and her spouse, an adviser to the education, science and sports minister in parliament, and the son of the manor’s longtime director.