Parliament endorses panel conclusions: MP Bastys acted against Lithuania's interests

VILNIUS - Mindaugas Bastys, a member of the Social Democratic political group in the Seimas, acted against the interests of the Lithuanian state by maintaining close and constant contacts with representatives of Russia's state nuclear energy corporation Rosatom, according to conclusions by a parliamentary committee that were endorsed by the Seimas on Tuesday.

The resolution to support the committee's findings was supported by 93 MPs, six were against and 16 abstained.

The Committee on National Security and Defense, which looked into  Bastys' ties to Russia's energy sector and Lithuania's underworld, last week found that Bastys acted against Lithuania's state interests by maintaining close and continued contacts with representatives of Russia's state nuclear energy corporation Rosatom.

According to the finding, Bastys' "close ties to former and current officers of Russian intelligence and security agencies, journalists close to the Kremlin and former and current members of the underworld pose a threat to national security".

The panel also concluded that Bastys had acted as an intermediary for Rosatom and related companies and "sought to influence political processes and the top officials in Lithuania, who could change the geopolitical direction of Lithuania and cause damage to the Lithuanian state".

The conclusions suggest that Bastys lied in his testimony to the panel. Prior to an interview with an ad hoc commission or a committee with a relevant mandate, individual signs a pledge to say the truth and faces criminal charges in the opposite case.

The parliament earlier this year initiated Bastys ' impeachment, but a special commission set up for this purpose has suspended its investigation until the Committee on National Security and Defense finishes its probe. The impeachment commission should resume its operations, appoint new members to replace the MPs working in the National Security and Defense Committee and the probe of Bastys' ties to prevent doubts about their impartiality.

Bastys denies all accusations. He has turned to the Prosecutor General's Office, asking to analyze his actions by the Criminal Code.

A few weeks ago, the Seimas asked the committee to conduct a parliamentary probe into the lawmaker's ties to Yevgeny Kostin, who is seen as a representative of Rosatom, Piotr Voyeiko, a former KGB agent, Ernest Matskevich, a journalist of the Russian state channel RTR, Saturnas Dubininkas, who is said to be a former Kaunas mafia leader, and Vadim Pakhomov, a businessman suspected of illegal activity.