Belsat TV journo part of OCCRP probe that may result in Lithuanian MP impeachment

Stanislau Ivashkevich

A sufficient number of Lithuanian lawmakers have signed the impeachment initiative against MP Arturas Skardius, who is known as one of the most influential Russian lobbyists in the country’s Seimas.

The politician is suspected of having close corrupt ties to Russia’s Gazprom and Belarus’ Belenergo.

According to the joint investigation of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), Lithuanian news website 15min and Belsat TV journalist Stanislau Ivashkevich, Skardzius‘ wife co-owns a solar energy business in Belarus, together with Sergey Beliy, the former CEO of Belenergo, the Belarus state-owned energy company. In turn, the journalistic probe triggered a parliamentary investigation.

„During one of the hearings, a business partner of the Skardzius family testified that the Belarusian business was funded by BelGazpromBank – a Belarusian bank owned by Gazprom. This was particularly sensitive, since Skardzius had openly advocated against the construction of a Lithuanian terminal, which significantly damaged Gazprom‘s influence in Lithuania,” the OCCRP website says.

ІІ, belsat.eu, following OCCRP