Versiculus denies guilt in alleged military bribery case
Sunday 18th October 2026 on 19:30 in
Lithuania
A Vilnius-registered construction company accused of bribing an employee in Lithuania’s national defence system denies wrongdoing, its lawyer told a court, LRT reported.
“The company does not admit guilt and does not agree that it instructed anyone to deliver a bribe,” lawyer Egidija Vėbraitė said at a hearing at the Kaunas District Court in Kaišiadorys.
The case also names Evaldas Gudynas, a company shareholder and works manager. He is accused of offering the defence-system employee 3,000 euros in cash, wine and snacks. Gudynas told the court he meant to give a Christmas present in recognition of a good working relationship and cooperation on a construction contract. He said he did not consider it a bribe, but had misjudged the relationship and acted improperly.
Prosecutors allege the gift was intended to secure favourable treatment when the company’s work was assessed under a public contract with the Ministry of National Defence. The contract was worth more than 1.287 million euros. Versiculus carried out renovation work at the Lithuanian Officers’ Club building in Kaunas.
Vėbraitė said the company did not deny that work under the renovation contract had been suspended several times, but argued the pauses were due to the army’s needs and events planned in the building, not deficiencies in the work. She said the army had requested additional work that was not included in the project, and argued that the assessment of the contract did not depend on the influence of the employee, identified in court as Ignas Šaudys.
Šaudys, an infrastructure maintenance engineer with the Lithuanian Armed Forces’ Logistics Command, previously told the court how he was allegedly given the gift. He said he informed his employer immediately after receiving it.
Vėbraitė said company head Paulius Gudynas, the accused man’s brother, was angry about the gift. She described it as a blow to the company, which has operated since 2003 and employs 30 to 40 people. The trial is due to continue in November.