Lithuania‘s Central Bank head welcomes panel’s decision to have his deal with Snoras’ temporary administrator investigated

“It’s a pity that the politicians failed to clear things up as regards the provisions of the agreement with the temporary administrator, even though they had been given explanations. I would be glad if this task was taken over by lawyers – this issue would be studied objectively, which would prevent the speculations by the politicians, who have lost self-control, from spreading,” Vitas Vasiliauskas told BNS on Wednesday.

The commission asked the Prosecutor General’s Office to investigate whether Vasiliauskas acted within his remit when signing agreements with Snoras’ temporary administrator, Simon Freakley.

Moreover, it asked to investigate whether the temporary administrator had the discretionary right to pay 5 million euros to the advisers he had hired, Valentinas Mazuronis, the panel’s chair, told the reporters on Wednesday.

The panel’s members representing the ruling majority left the meeting on Wednesday, hence the commission could not approve its findings.

Mazuronis said that the conclusions had actually been approved. Meanwhile, Conservative MP Stasys Šedbaras, chairman of parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs, told BNS that the findings had not been approved since the final voting had not taken place.

A week ago the panel’s members agreed the preliminary findings showing that the actions taken by the Bank of Lithuania while shutting down Snoras last November were hasty and based on insufficient reasons.