Vilnius Social Democrats seek probes into municipal housing company

Vilnius City Council’s Social Democratic faction has asked Lithuania’s Special Investigation Service and Financial Crime Investigation Service to assess allegations of possible misconduct at municipal company Vilnius City Housing and launch pre-trial investigations, LRT reports.

The request follows an investigation published by Laisvės TV two weeks ago, which alleged that Vilnius City Housing may have conducted public procurement procedures without transparency and that some repairs to social housing may have been carried out poorly.

The report also raised questions about cost estimates for work performed by Glaskek LT and possible gifts from the company to Vilnius City Housing employees.

“This is no longer a question of whether one invoice was calculated inaccurately. The account of an employee who testified anonymously gives the impression of a system operating continuously between the municipal company and contractors,” Social Democratic faction leader Povilas Pinelis was quoted as saying in a statement.

He said it was regrettable that a company responsible for vulnerable residents had raised doubts about the transparency of its operations and possible profiteering at the expense of people facing the greatest difficulties.

The faction asked the Special Investigation Service to assess whether the publicly reported circumstances show signs of abuse of office, embezzlement or document forgery. If information about possible gifts to company employees is confirmed, it was also asked to assess possible signs of bribery and offering bribes.

The service was additionally asked to conduct a corruption-risk analysis of the procurement, acceptance, payment and administration of warranty obligations related to social housing repairs and maintenance.

The Financial Crime Investigation Service was asked to assess possible signs of fraudulent accounting, fraud, document forgery and the submission of inaccurate information about income, profit or assets. It was also asked to compare the nature, scope and value of work recorded in the accounts of Vilnius City Housing, Glaskek LT and other contractors with the work actually carried out.

The faction also asked the service to assess cases in which work should have been performed under warranty obligations but may have been purchased and paid for again.

The Special Investigation Service told ELTA last week that its 2025 corruption-risk analysis of Vilnius’ municipal housing fund and other real estate management processes had identified certain systemic risks in Vilnius City Housing’s operations. Social housing repairs were not assessed at the time. The service said the recommendations issued after the analysis had been essentially implemented, based on monitoring of their implementation.

Vilnius City Housing has launched an internal review following the information published by Laisvės TV. Company director Rosita Žibelienė previously told ELTA that the allegations were being taken seriously, but said the report could not be considered a comprehensive and thorough investigation.

Glaskek LT has categorically rejected claims that it carried out the work without transparency or to a poor standard.