15min reminds that this week the question of whether D. Kvedaravičius is suitable to lead the Trakai Historical National Park, raised Olga Vėbrienė, member of the Democratic Union “Vardan Lietuvos” and former head of the Department of Environmental Protection.
In her post on Facebook, she singled out several episodes from D. Kvedaravičius’s past, but he himself called it “manipulation of distorted facts”, and the Minister of Culture S. Kairys – “flutter or fantasies”.
However, both of them left out one important detail related to the appointment of D. Kvedaravičius.
A liberal appointed a liberal
Usually, the heads of the institutions subordinate to the ministries are chosen by the ministers – they are the ones who have the last word in the tenders that take place in several stages.
It happened this time as well.
With questions regarding the details of the competition for the head of the Trakai Historical National Park 15min addressed the press representative of the Minister of Culture, Viktorija Vitkauskaitė.
According to the data provided by her, nine candidates responded to the competition announced on September 25 and submitted the necessary documents.
Eight applicants participated in the competition. Later, the two best were selected by a special competition committee.
“The competition commission, following listening to the presentations of the programs prepared by them and evaluating the programs themselves, chose the two best performing candidates from all the participants,” said V.Vitkauskaitė in a written comment.
As stipulated by the procedure for organizing such competitions, the minister later meets separately with the two best-rated candidates and, following interviews with them, taking into account the assessment of the first-stage commission, decides on the winner.
Finally, the decision on the winner was made by the Minister of Culture S. Kairys.
“As stipulated in the procedure for organizing such competitions, the minister later meets separately with the two best-rated candidates and following talking with them, taking into account the evaluation of the commission of the first stage, decides on the winner,” said the representative of the minister.
15min reminds that both the Minister of Culture S.Kairys and D.Kvedaravičius, who was appointed to head the institution subordinate to this ministry by his decision, belong to the Liberal movement.
The role of the minister was kept silent
On December 7, the Ministry of Culture announced that D. Kvedaravičius won the competition, but avoided stating that he was chosen by the minister out of two candidates. The message read as follows: “D. Kvedaravičius’s candidacy was chosen from two candidates who participated in the final stage of the competition.”
Minister of Culture S. Kairys earlier 15min testified that D. Kvedaravičius, as a candidate for the head of the Trakai Historical National Park, seemed head and shoulders above the others.
I have absolutely no doubts regarding the process itself as it moved forward.
The member of the Government delegated by the Liberal Movement noted that this competition was organized by the Public Management Agency, and the Ministry of Culture had simply delegated its representatives.
“I have absolutely no doubts regarding the process itself, how it moved forward. And if there is an attempt to impose some stain, there is still a procedure for that. All responsible services are contacted for comments etc. before appointment.
If those comments are not received, then D. Kvedaravičius will take office following receiving the answers from the institutions, which is a simple procedure and is necessary before the appointment of every manager who won the tender,” said S. Kairys.
D. Kvedaravičius earlier 15min said he knew that membership in the Liberal movement, to which S. Kairys also belongs, would be criticized and would raise suspicions or questions for some.
“In my opinion, they are unfounded. I participate like anyone else. As far as I know, there were significantly more of those candidates in the initial phase. The selection was carried out by the Public Management Agency. I passed all the stages of the selection,” he said, also omitting that he was declared the winner following a conversation with the minister.
The jobs are related to the party
Recently, D. Kvedaravičius has been working in those institutions and establishments that are either under or headed by members of the Liberal Movement.
Julius Kalinskas / 15min photo/Darius Kvedaravičius
For several years, he headed the administration of the municipality of Trakai district, later held the position of deputy minister in the Ministry of Environment headed by Simon Gentvil.
Now he works as a chancellor in the Department of Cultural Heritage under the Ministry of Culture, and at the same time works in the Trakai District Municipal Council.
Ethics watchdogs do not see the problem
Virginija Aleksejūnė, representative of the Chief Service Ethics Commission (VTEK). 15min stated that according to the Law on the Coordination of Public and Private Interests, “membership in political parties is not in itself considered a circumstance giving rise to a conflict of interest situation”.
“The Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania, which verifies the decisions of VTEK, has the same opinion, according to it, belonging to a certain political party can mean common political interests, but this circumstance in itself does not indicate a private interest of a person working in the public service in relation to his party comrade,” said the representative of VTEK.
As a result, according to her, the fact that both S. Kairys and D. Kvedaravičius belong to the Liberal Movement “should not be considered sufficient for a conflict of interest to arise”.
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2024-07-18 21:49:56