Lingė asks ethics commission to investigate finance minister’s potential conflict

Conservative lawmaker Mindaugas Lingė has asked Lithuania’s Chief Official Ethics Commission to investigate a possible conflict of interest involving Finance Minister Taurimas Valys, LRT reported. The concerns relate to Valys’s previous role on the board of Family Credit Union.

In a submission seen by the Lithuanian news agency ELTA, Lingė asks the commission to determine whether Valys broke the law by failing to declare in his private interests statement that the credit union’s board chair and head of administration, Žygimantas Valys, is his brother.

Lingė also asks whether the minister should have recused himself from government decisions on proposed amendments to the Central Credit Union Law and other decisions on credit union regulation.

The submission further asks the commission to assess whether Valys’s role in exercising the state’s shareholder rights in ILTE, Lithuania’s national development bank, creates a conflict of interest. Family Credit Union is a financial intermediary for ILTE and receives promotional support measures.

Lingė has asked the commission to obtain records from the government office of all recusals made by Valys since July 14, 2026. He also seeks information from ILTE on active agreements with the credit union for guarantees, funds and other support measures, their amounts, and decisions concerning the union made after that date.

Valys denies a possible conflict of interest. He says his ties to the financial institution have been publicly declared and that he fully withdrew from its activities after taking office. He also says the credit union led by his brother received no special privileges from the Finance Ministry and that he made no decisions as minister to improve its position.

The minister says he has sold all his credit union shares and has fully left the institution. He also said he bought a car he had used for more than four years for about 14,000 euros, when it was seven and a half years old. Valys said the price was in line with market rates.

ELTA reported that Valys was questioned about his previous credit union role in parliament last week. He then explained the circumstances of the car purchase and said information related to the transaction had been publicly declared.