Šiauliai politicians return more than €174,000 in expense claims

More than €174,000 has been returned or is due to be returned to Šiauliai’s municipal budget after claims over politicians’ expense reimbursements, LRT reported. The Šiauliai Regional Prosecutor’s Office, which represents the public interest, pursued the money from 35 people who served on the city council between 2019 and 2023.

Most of the politicians have repaid the amounts sought by prosecutors or agreed to do so in instalments. One civil case remains unresolved, with mediation under way. The article gives the amount in dispute as €3,063 in one passage and €3,067 in another.

Some politicians lost court cases

Politicians initially maintained that the money had been received and spent lawfully. Danguolė Martinkienė was the first to reach a settlement, in early 2025, agreeing to repay €13,691 in instalments. By late October, she had €3,191 left to pay and had pledged to complete repayment by May 2027.

Saulius Stasiūnas and Gintautas Lukošaitis contested their cases in court and lost. Stasiūnas repaid €5,668, including interest. Lukošaitis was ordered to repay €11,067 and still owed €4,141 in October.

After courts established a legal practice, most council members chose not to litigate and returned the sums calculated by prosecutors. The largest repayments were made by Aurimas Žvinys (€11,693), Violeta Laugalienė (€10,331), Antanas Sireika (€9,667), Pranas Nainys (€8,312), Gintautas Sitnikas (€7,560), Nijolė Prascevičienė (€6,504), Juozas Pabrėža (€6,411), Denis Michalenko (€6,213) and Pranciškus Trijonis (€6,097).

Others who settled without going to court were Irina Barabanova (€5,478), Angelė Kavaliauskienė (€5,474), Jonas Bartkus (€5,423), Vytautas Juškus (€4,878), Virginijus Kinčinaitis (€4,445), Martynas Šiurkus (€4,377), Edvardas Žakaris (€3,836), Giedrė Mendoza Herrera (€2,934), Rimundas Domarkas (€2,556), Aurimas Lankas (€2,541), Vaidas Bacys (€1,349) and Irena Vidžiūnienė (€1,090). Eduardas Bivainis was asked to repay the smallest amount, €224.88.

Some repayments are spread over several years

Several politicians agreed to repay the money in instalments. Irmantas Kukulskis agreed to return €8,665 by October 2028, and Gediminas Beržinis Beržinskas agreed to repay €7,850 by the same date. Malikas Agamalijevas is to repay €3,217 by October 2027. Zakiras Medžidovas, who reached a settlement in April over €3,996, paid the full amount that month.

The prosecutor’s office settled its dispute with Rima Juškienė in the past week after she repaid €2,439. The remaining case is that of council member Simona Potelienė. Her civil case had reached Vilnius District Court before a request for mediation was submitted.

Prosecutors had no claims against council member Marijus Velička, who had declined political activity allowances. Mayor Artūras Visockas and former deputy mayors Domas Griškevičius and Egidijus Elijošius were not eligible for the so-called office allowances under the council’s rules.