As BNS reports, the minister signed the order on April 29. It is explained that the law allows appointing a manager for a second term without a competition if the performance is evaluated as “good” or “very good”.
“He was appointed for a second term this year (uncontested). During the entire first term, the activities of V. Daukšis were evaluated “very well”, the Ministry of Finance told BNS.
Also, the decision to appoint him without organizing the selection was influenced by the story of Šarūnas Stepukonis. According to the Ministry of Finance, BNS, V. Daukšys remains in charge of LPT because his future plans are satisfactory.
V. Daukšys first took up the position of Director of the Gambling Supervision Service in 2015. January 16
As Elta was later informed by the Ministry of Finance, the decision was made taking into account the annual evaluations of V. Daukšis’s activities, the goals presented by him for the coming year and the prepared implementation plan, which includes measures to strengthen gambling supervision and further prevention. In addition, the LPT’s active participation in the preparation of the new Gambling Law draft was appreciated, so the ministry hopes that after the Seimas adopts the law, the head will contribute to its implementation.
“Finally, after a conversation with the relatives of problem gamblers, the principled contribution of the head of LPT V. Daukšis in the field of gambling prevention was evaluated, and help was also provided to the affected families. V. Daukšys was appointed as the head of the institution in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Service Law of the Republic of Lithuania, which allows the head to be appointed for a second term without a separate tender,” explains the Ministry of Finance.
“The performance of the LPT director is evaluated every year, in accordance with Article 18 of the Law on Civil Service of the Republic of Lithuania. The last performance assessment for 2023 activities were carried out at the beginning of this year, the conclusion of the activity evaluation is in 2024. on March 4, rated – very good,” the comment states.
It is also emphasized that the case of former BaltCap Infrastructure Fund partner Šarūnas Stepukonis was an “additional contextual component”, as the situation required direct cooperation and involvement of LPT.
“Since gambling organizers did not follow the Responsible Gambling guidelines when organizing gambling and did not report potentially suspicious operations, the Authority and the manager actively participated in the preparation of the new draft Law on Gambling, which, once adopted by the Seimas, will make it mandatory to comply with the obligations contained in the law, which gambling organizers were currently looking at with possible creativity. In addition, the law will provide additional tools to the Gambling Supervision Service and increase fines for violations,” the ministry assured.
“We draw your attention to the fact that V. Daukšys was appointed to the aforementioned positions in 2015 through a tender process. for a term of four years, and then, after the change of the Civil Service Law, through a tender from 01.05.2019 – for a term of five years, ie until 30.04.2024. In other words, in 2019-2024 was the first term of the manager, in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Service Law, he was appointed for a second term this year”, the comment also emphasized.
LPT has received criticism from some politicians for being overly passive in the context of the lost funds of former BaltCap partner Šarūnas Stepukonis, responsible gambling guidelines, which are only recommended for now.
ELTA reminds that the former partner of BaltCap Infrastructure Fund Š. Stepukonis was arrested in Vilnius in February. He is suspected of embezzling about 40 million. EUR capital fund funds, at least a part of which could have been lost by the casino.
After the Vilnius city district court granted the prosecutor’s request and allowed the suspect Š. After Stepukonis was arrested, the former partner of BaltCap was released in mid-March.
The investigation on Sh. Stepukonis’ activities are controlled by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, which is entrusted to the Financial Crimes Investigation Service (FNTT). European Prosecutor Darius Karčinskas applied to the court on Thursday, requesting an extension of Š. Stepukonis’ arrest for another month.
Because of Sh. Two pre-trial investigations are being conducted on Stepukonis. In the first, he is suspected of approximately 27 million. embezzlement of funds from BaltCap funds. According to the prosecutor’s office, more than 20 million EUR Š. Stepukonis could have lost. At that time, another part of the money could have been lost in risky investments through the Interactive Brokers platform.
The second pre-trial investigation was resumed after the opening of the first. The Vilnius District Prosecutor’s Office had already started a pre-trial investigation in 2022 after receiving information from the company “Paysera LT” about Š. 3.9 million was transferred to Stepukonis’ account from the Polish company. euros. According to the prosecutor’s office, it was then established that the money was transferred during the execution of a share sale transaction, so the investigation was terminated.
Sh. Stepukonis managed infrastructure fund companies in Lithuania for various periods and was the chairman of the board of project companies in Poland. According to the register of legal entities, in Lithuania he is a former member of the BaltCap Infrastructure Fund companies “Investiciju uostas”, “Knowledge investment”, “Moelta”, “Nullus”, “Safe community”, “Urban Revitalisation”, “Vējo sesės 1″, ” Head of Venetus capital”, “Vilnius multi-functional complex” and “Žvirgždaičių energija”.
At that time, the Polish registry Š. Stepukonis is listed as the former chairman of the board of companies “Izim SP”, “Deuteros Izim Edu”, “EN Efficiency PL”, “Protos Izim Edu” and “Tritos Izim Edu”. According to BaltCap’s website, Izim is a dedicated portfolio company that aims to raise living standards in Polish cities by upgrading public infrastructure.
