Leiputė welcomes minister’s apology over 48,000-euro staff party

Orinta Leiputė, leader of the Social Democratic Party’s parliamentary group, said Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas was right to apologise to the public over a ministry party that cost nearly 48,000 euros, LRT reported.

“I view his action very positively and think lessons will be learned,” Leiputė told Žinių radijas, a radio station, on Wednesday. She said Kaunas had assessed the situation after returning from a lengthy business trip and appeared to have a plan for discussing staff motivation with the ministry’s trade union leadership.

Kaunas apologised publicly on Tuesday, saying the decision to spend nearly 48,000 euros on the event was inappropriate given the current geopolitical situation. He said the minister was responsible for the ministry’s work and that there would be no search for individuals to blame.

The minister said the ministry would work with its trade union chair to develop a system for motivating staff and strengthening the community that reflected current circumstances, used funds rationally and avoided justified public doubts. He also said he would personally help review problems in the ministry’s administrative and office management work.

The event, reported last week by lrytas.lt and Lietuvos rytas television, was attended by about 200 employees from the Ministry of National Defence and its General Affairs Department. The initial estimate was 50,364 euros, but the ministry’s Budget and Finance Department urged that it be reduced. The final cost was 47,559 euros, of which 44,994 euros was paid from ministry funds and the rest by attendees.

Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius sought an explanation from Kaunas but said he trusted the minister. President Gitanas Nausėda had called Kaunas’s initial response to questions about the party “a second mistake” and said he expected an apology and explanation.