Raudondvaris Manor Faces a Flood of Information Requests, to Social Democrats’ Discomfort

The Kaunas District Municipality Anti-Corruption Commission is preparing a broad request for information from Raudondvaris Manor, including employee salaries and possible ties to the Social Democratic Party. Some Social Democrats have questioned whether every request can be legally justified.

Snieguolė Navickienė, who led the municipal institution from 2009 until March this year and now serves as Kaunas District’s deputy mayor, told the commission that Raudondvaris Manor had never received complaints about failing to publish a staff list and employee contacts on its website. She said communication had continued through the contacts already provided and that the institution had asked an agency what information it should publish.

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Somehow, there were never any questions about publishing contacts. Communication took place through the contacts that were listed, the work was carried out, and you know that perfectly well. We have also asked the agency what information we should publish on our website and are waiting for an answer.

“Whatever seemed necessary to us was published on the website,” Navickienė said. She also said procurement information could be found in the Central Public Procurement Information System, although it was not available on the manor’s own website.

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Whatever seemed necessary to us was published on the website.

Commission chair Jūratė Truncienė, a Liberal, said the administration would be asked to provide the institution’s list of positions, employee list by position, salary information, the membership of its public procurement commission, annual procurement plans and other material. “There may be various deviations, so we want to check whether everything is correct,” she said.

Conservative commission member Gintarė Grybauskaitė-Kaminskienė called for a detailed examination of employees’ political and personal connections. She listed party members, parliamentary and campaign staff, political appointees, current and former candidates, relatives of party politicians, and people linked through employment, business or other important relationships. She said public discussion had focused on claims that about 40 Social Democrats worked at the manor, and argued that a clear table of names and connections would remove doubts. The requests have created discomfort among Social Democrats, some of whom doubt whether the investigation is legally grounded.

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There may be various deviations, so we want to check whether everything is correct.