Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis has recently come under fire for not publicly declaring the ownership of a villa on the Greek island of Aegina. But he is hardly the only Lithuanian politician boasting property abroad. The LRT Investigations Team has examined asset declarations of Lithuanian politicians and civil servants.
It turns out that around 200 public figures have assets abroad worth almost 29 million euros. Gintautas Paluckas, one of the leaders of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP), has revealed on social media that he owns two plots of land abroad – in Brazil and Turkey. It was the LRT Investigation Team’s questions that prompted him to publish this information.
“So where is your plot abroad? I was very amused by this question from a journalist I recently met. I have been waiting for an opportunity to boast for a long time,” Paluckas wrote on Facebook on Wednesday evening. A day before, LRT asked Paluckas in which country he owned a plot of land worth 180,000 euros.
This was stated in his declaration of assets submitted to the State Tax Inspectorate (VMI). It turned out that he had bought a plot of land in Florianopolis, Brazil, when he visited it for holidays last year. According to Paluckas, the land in Brazil was for investment purposes, while the one in Turkey was for farming.
There, he owns a nut plantation with 1,400 nut trees. The six hectares of land in Turkey were not included in Paluckas’ asset declaration because it was purchased through a company established in Turkey, Trident Solo Tarim, back in 2020. Asked why his declaration of private interests did not include links to a Turkish company, Paluckas rushed to amend it.
A day later, the politician said on social media that “of course, all this is reflected in the declarations of income and assets, but, as we have already found out, no one reads them until someone needs it”. The politician later told LRT that he had included in his declaration of private interests his relations with Lithuanian companies, while he had no public or private interests with a foreign company. “In order to avoid any additional questions and misunderstandings, I have amended the declaration of interests so that everybody can see that there is no secret,” one of the LSDP leaders said.
Owning apartments The most popular property abroad among the Lithuanian public figures is an apartment. Around 130 politicians and civil servants declared the ownership of apartments abroad worth more than 11 million euros. Most of them are councillors in various municipalities, with members of the ruling conservative Homeland Union or LSDP being the most likely to have bought luxury homes.
Viktor Uspaskich, a former MEP and the interim leader of the Labour Party, who is currently running in the Seimas elections, owns the most expensive apartment abroad, worth 1.07 million euros. He also has 3.
3 million euros worth of unfinished buildings abroad. “Why do I have to tell you everything?” the politician told LRT reporters by phone. When asked in which countries he owns the real estate in question, Uspaskich only said that the new buildings are for business but did not reveal whether it is in the European Union or another country.
“A lot of things have been started; construction has started. The time will come when I tell you, when we need to declare. For now, I don’t need to do anything,” the politician said.
Deputy Health Minister Olegas Niakšu has also bought an apartment abroad. The value of the property in Austria’s Vienna is around 360,000 euros. According to him, it is his family’s main home, as he lived in Austria from 2011 to 2024, and his family still lives there.
Deputy Economy and Innovation Minister Neringa Morozaitė-Rasmussen also says that her family is currently living in a house in Brussels, which they bought in 2021 for 425,000 euros. Meanwhile, Deputy Social Security and Labour Minister Justina Jakštienė bought her house abroad after the outbreak of the large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. The value of the property is around 180,000 euros.
Jakštienė told LRT that the house was purchased for personal use in an EU country in mid-2022 but did not disclose its exact location. However, in 2021, it was reported that Jakštienė worked remotely from Spain for at least one month. The ministry’s representatives confirmed to LRT that the deputy minister is also currently working remotely from Spain.
Beloved Latvia and Spain MEP Petras Gražulis thanked LRT journalists for reminding him about his land plot in Latvia. The plot is currently worth around 85,000 euros and is intended for the construction of residential houses near Riga, according to the politician. “I bought it just before the Kubilius crisis [financial crisis in 2008].
A Lithuanian businessman said that he had a plot of land, that I could buy it very cheaply and its value would rise. It is possible to build several houses there,” Gražulis said. Valdemaras Valkiūnas, a millionaire member of the Seimas, also owns real estate in Latvia worth 2.
7 million euros. He confirmed to LRT that the land plots and buildings are for business purposes and that he has never owned a residential property in Latvia. Igoris Malinauskas, a member of the Pasvalys District Council, told a similar story.
He owns more than 1 million euros worth of real estate in Latvia. The politician lived in Latvia for about 30 years and still has a business there. Spain is also popular among politicians for property ownership.
For example, Antanas Matulas, a conservative member of the Seimas, declared an apartment abroad worth 85,000 euros. The politician has said that he bought a 49-square-metre apartment in Torrevieja, Spain, in 2022. His adviser in the Seimas and conservative member of the Vilnius Municipal Council, Neringa Laurinavičiūtė, confirmed to LRT that a few years ago she also bought a house, worth 150 000 euros, in Spain’s Valencia region.
“We were in the process of concluding a contract for 2021, but it didn’t happen. I think we closed the deal in May 2022. We are not renting this house; it is our family home,” the politician said.
Kelmė Mayor Ildefonsas Petkevičius has also bought an apartment in Tenerife, Spain, in 2021. “I was not yet a mayor, and I had an opportunity to buy a flat while I was there. It was a very successful transaction,” he said.
The current value of Petkevičius’ apartment in Tenerife is around 245,000 euros, and the Kelmė mayor says it is used only by his family. Weekly newsletter every Friday.
