Lithuania plans public dashboard on family ties in the public sector

Lithuania’s Special Investigation Service (STT) plans to launch a public dashboard showing statistics on family ties in state and municipal institutions and companies by the end of the first half of 2027, LRT reports.

The dashboard is being developed with the State Data Agency. It will show what proportion of employees in each public-sector organisation are related to other employees there, STT acting Strategic Advisory Division head Andrius Valuta told parliament’s Anti-Corruption Commission on Wednesday.

Valuta said the information would help organisations assess potential risks, including whether private interests are properly declared, conflicts of interest are managed and officials recuse themselves from decisions when required. He stressed that family ties alone do not constitute a breach of the law or a conflict of interest.

Vyriausioji tarnybinės etikos komisija (VTEK), Lithuania’s Chief Official Ethics Commission, chair Jolanta Bernotaitė asked which relationships would be included and whether publishing the figures could lead to unfounded suspicions of wrongdoing.

The methodology has not yet been finalised. STT is considering including a wider range of relatives than the definition of close persons in the Law on the Reconciliation of Public and Private Interests. Valuta said the figures could include aunts, uncles and cousins, but no decision has been made.

Anti-Corruption Commission chair Arvydas Anušauskas said statistics on family ties alone would not show whether there were actual risks. He suggested the dashboard could separately identify cases involving a reporting relationship or a potential conflict of interest.

In September, the commission opened an inquiry into possible systemic nepotism in the public sector, including the hiring of people linked to the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party at Raudondvaris Manor, an institution subordinate to Kaunas District Municipality.