The Vilnius textile manufacturer "Neaustima", which was not registered in the list of lobbyists, engaged in illegal lobbying activities when it submitted proposals to the Ministry of Agriculture regarding the arrangement of the construction of reclamation structures, the court finally ruled.
On November 27, the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania (LVAT) confirmed that the company carried out such activities by proposing to change the technical requirements determining the properties of the geotextile it produces, which is used in drainage systems.
"There is no dispute in the case that the company (Neaustima - BNS) was not included in the list of lobbyists at the time the letter was submitted. (…) The court believes that in this case it has been proven that the company carried out illegal lobbying activities", the court ruled.
The dispute arose due to the investigation of the company launched by the Supreme Service Ethics Commission (VTEK) in July 2021. VTEK found that "Neaustima" illegally carried out lobbying activities. The company asked the court to annul the commission's decision to open this investigation, but the court terminated this part of the case, stating that it was not within its competence.
"Neaustima" told the court that in June 2021, in writing to the Ministry of Agriculture, it only submitted its opinion on the amendments to the Land Reclamation Technical Regulation and did not seek to influence it, therefore such an action cannot be considered a lobbying activity.
"The Commission (VTEK - BNS) did not pay attention to the fact that the applicant ("Neaustima" - BNS) sent the letter not only to the Ministry of Agriculture, but also to the Association of Lithuanian Reclamation Companies. This means that the applicant had no intention of influencing the ministry regarding the amendment of the legal act", the company stated to the court.
At that time, VTEK told the court that the ministry did not ask to submit proposals for improving the regulation, on the contrary, the company sent the letter to the ministry on its own initiative, and it expressed not only opinions and criticism, but also specific proposals.
"The company, in order to influence the amendment of the regulation approved by the order, had to register on the list of lobbyists and (...) declare such activities, because in the context of the provisions of the law, it is important that specific lobbying activities be disclosed to the public," the commission explained to the court.
The court considered as unfounded the explanations of "Neaustima" that it did not act in personal interests.
"The company not only prepared a specific draft of the legal act, but also proposed to initiate the consideration of this draft of the legal act. (…) Adoption of such a draft amendment to the normative act would be beneficial to the company due to its economic activity", the court assessed.
According to the Registry Center, the final beneficiaries of "Neaustima" are Petras Andriuška (47%) and Stanislovas Grušas (38%).
The author is Goda Vileikytė
Editor Roma Pakėnienė
[email protected], Business News Section
