Lithuanian president: I wish prime minister to tell truth and nothing but truth

VILNIUS - Following the latest journalistic investigation revealing yet another story related to Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas' past acquisitions, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has acknowledged that the prime minister's answers are inconsistent and suggested that he tell the truth and nothing but the truth, because otherwise it will become "very difficult to do his job".

"These answers raise doubts because, first of all, they do not fully correspond to the answers that were given earlier. I really want to urge the prime minister to be open and tell the truth and nothing but the truth, because this is a matter of trust and the reputation of all politicians, including myself. It is about trust," Nauseda told reporters during a working visit to Ireland.

According to the president, if trust is lost, "it just becomes very difficult" for a politician "to do their job, because they have to deal with other things instead of their direct work".

"I want to wish the prime minister to avoid this scenario, and I still see a chance for that," the president said.

Nauseda stressed that what "has been happening recently" is not encouraging.

"Yes, one can complain that the questions are perhaps biased or perhaps intended to provoke the prime minister, but there are no bad questions, only inappropriate answers," he pointed out.

According to the latest investigation by Laisves TV and the Siena Center for Investigative Journalism, which was published on Wednesday, the Cypriot company Grafdec Limited, whose ultimate owners cannot be traced due to a complex shareholder structure, purchased an apartment in an abandoned building in the Snipiskes neighborhood of Vilnius for 107,000 euros in 2008.

Four years later, Paluckas acquired the same apartment from the Cyprus-registered company for mere 16,500 euros.

Paluckas said in comments about the investigation that these premises were purchased as part of an investment project and the price, in the prime minister's opinion, corresponded to the market value when assessing the actual condition of the premises and the building.

Paluckas still owns the apartment in question and explains that it was an unsuccessful investment project, while Vilnius City Municipality has stated that the plot of land under the building was formed by Paluckas himself when he was director of the municipality's administration.

The Cypriot company, which was de-registered in 2016, is still officially listed as the tenant of state-owned land under Paluckas' apartment.

The Special Investigation Service (SIS) and the Financial Crime Investigation Service (FCIS) are conducting pre-trial investigations into the prime minister and companies associated with him in response to previous media publications.