Raudondvaris estate suspends two managers over procurement concerns

The temporary director and deputy director of the Raudondvaris estate, a public institution in Kaunas district, have been suspended while authorities investigate possible violations in public procurement, LRT reports.

Kaunas District Mayor Valerijus Makūnas on Friday asked the Public Procurement Office and the Chief Official Ethics Commission to assess the publicly reported circumstances and determine whether legal requirements were breached.

Temporary director Kotryna Inga Morkūnaitė and deputy director Egidijus Morkūnas will remain suspended while the circumstances are assessed and institutional investigations are carried out, according to a municipal statement.

The Kaunas District Municipality said it had not received information about the alleged violations mentioned in public reports before they were made public. It said it would provide investigators with all necessary information and documents and cooperate in addressing questions about the institution’s activities.

If the investigations establish that laws were broken, the municipality said it would take appropriate legal and administrative measures.

A working group formed by the mayor on August 28 is also examining possible violations in the hiring of employees at the Raudondvaris estate. The group includes specialists from different fields to assess the hiring circumstances from legal, personnel management and internal audit perspectives.

The municipality said the activities of institutions it owns or controls must be transparent, and public funds must be used in line with legal requirements, transparency principles and conflict-of-interest prevention rules.

LRT’s Investigations Department has reported that events of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party are held at the Raudondvaris estate. Its review of the institution’s public procurement records found no publicly disclosed premises rental agreement with the party, although agreements with other political parties, including the Homeland Union Lithuanian Christian Democrats, have been published.

LRT also reported that Aistė Sinkevičienė, the spouse of Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius, works at the estate. She reportedly works remotely as a public relations specialist on a half-time basis. Her contact details are not publicly available, and the institution’s deputy director told LRT she was unaware of such a colleague.

Sinkevičienė has worked for the Kaunas District Municipality since 2013. After returning from maternity leave in 2023, she became a senior specialist in the municipality’s Public and International Relations Division, and was appointed head of the division without a competition in July 2024. Her income exceeded 73,500 euros last year, with about a quarter earned from work at the Raudondvaris estate.