Gediminas Kirkilas (, born 30 August 1951) is a

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

n politician who was

Prime Minister of Lithuania The prime minister of Lithuania ( lt, Ministras Pirmininkas; "Minister-Chairman") is the head of the government of Lithuania. The prime minister is Lithuania's head of government and is appointed by the president with the assent of the Lithua ...

from 2006 to 2008.

Life and career

Kirkilas was born in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urba ...

in 1951. After returning from mandatory military service, from 1972 to 1978 he worked on several cultural monuments (e.g. churches or the

Verkiai Palace Verkiai Palace ( lt, Verkių rūmai) is an 18th-century neoclassical mansion in Verkiai, Vilnius, Lithuania. History Until the end of the 14th century this place was a property of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania. There was a wooden manor even in ...

) restoring their interior and especially

rolled gold Gold-filled jewelry is jewelry composed of a solid layer of gold (typically constituting at least 5% of the item's total weight) mechanically bonded to a base of either sterling silver or some base metal. The related terms "rolled gold plate" an ...

and molding. In 1978–1982 he studied

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...

. After graduation, he joined the

Communist Party of Lithuania The Communist Party of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos komunistų partija; russian: Коммунистическая партия Литвы) is a banned communist party in Lithuania. The party was established in early October 1918 and operated clan ...

and took various posts there. When

Algirdas Brazauskas Algirdas Mykolas Brazauskas (, 1932 – 2010) was the first President (fourth overall) of a newly re-independent post-Soviet Lithuania from 1993 to 1998 and Prime Minister from 2001 to 2006. He also served as head of the Communist Party of ...

was appointed the secretary of the party, Kirkilas became his press secretary. Since independence was declared on 11 March 1990, Kirkilas was involved in the state matters and was elected to the

Seimas The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas), or simply the Seimas (), is the unicameral parliament of Lithuania. The Seimas constitutes the legislative branch of government in Lithuania, enacting laws and amendm ...

seven times, representing the

Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos demokratinė darbo partija, LDDP) was the renamed Communist Party of Lithuania. It was a political party in Lithuania in the 1990s, which claimed to be social-democratic. The youth organization ...

(in 1992, 1996 and 2000) and the

Social Democratic Party of Lithuania The Social Democratic Party of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos socialdemokratų partija, LSDP) is a centre-left and social democratic political party in Lithuania. Founded as an underground Marxist organization in 1896, it is the oldest extant part ...

(in 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016). He was appointed the

Minister of National Defence of Lithuania The Ministry of National Defence of the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublikos krašto apsaugos ministerija) was established in 1990. Its mission, according to its website, consists of: "Implementation of joint policy with NATO, cooperat ...

on 7 December 2004. In 2004, he received an MBA from the International Business School in Vilnius. He was confirmed by the Seimas on 4 July 2006 after Zigmantas Balčytis, the provisional Prime Minister, failed to gather the required support from the parliament. He stepped down on 27 November 2008 after the 2008 parliamentary elections, and gave way to

Andrius Kubilius Andrius Kubilius (born 8 December 1956) is a Lithuanian politician who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2019. He served as Prime Minister of Lithuania from 1999 to 2000 and again from 2008 to 2012.LR Vyriausio ...

to start his second term as the prime minister. In January 2007 he was praised in ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...

'' as an unsung hero whose "minority administration has surpassed all expectations".

Premiership of Gediminas Kirkilas

During his time in office GDP rose by 21 percent, financing of socially sensitive areas increased, strategic decisions were made in the field of energy, personal income tax decreased and relations with Poland were strengthened. Kirkilas' Cabinet was criticized for its denial of coming economic crisis and for not obeying fiscal rules.

Controversies

In July 2007, Kirkilas signed the protocol assigning the members of newly formed governmental work group to assist the energy company " Lietuvos energija" in negotiating and consulting with potential foreign partners for a new

Ignalina nuclear power plant The Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant ( lt, Ignalinos atominė elektrinė, IAE) is a decommissioned two-unit RBMK-1500 nuclear power station in Visaginas Municipality, Lithuania. It was named after the nearby city of Ignalina. Due to the plant's sim ...

project. A public turmoil followed after the name of occurred in the list of the work group. After the so-called State Security Department scandal in 2006, when a senior officer Vytautas Pociūnas died under controversial circumstances in a hotel in

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

, the witnesses described Darius Jurgelevičius as a middleman transmitting then Lithuanian Foreign Ministry's clerk

Albinas Januška Albinas Januška (born 1960) is a Lithuanian politician. In 1990, he was among those who signed the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania The Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania or Act of March 11 ( lt, Akt ...

's influence to State Security Department. Albinas Januška currently works as G. Kirkilas's advisor. In July 2007, before handing his powers to his successors, the chairman of the State Price and Energy Control Commission spoke about the ties between gas companies and the Prime Minister Kirkilas, saying: "a gas company "

Lietuvos dujos AB Lietuvos Dujos was a natural gas company in Lithuania. It was established in 1961 as an integrated gas company for import, transmission, distribution and sale of natural gas. After privatization in the 1990s, its major shareholders became Gazpr ...

" is privately lobbying G. Kirkilas and the second Lithuanian monopolist gas company – Ministry of Economics. CEO of

, Viktoras Valentukevičius, meets Kirkilas privately to play tennis". In October 2014, Fair Observer featured an interview with Kirkilas where he spoke on his pro-nuclear energy stance.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkilas, Gediminas Prime Ministers of Lithuania Ministers of Defence of Lithuania Members of the Seimas Lithuanian communists Politicians from Vilnius 1951 births Living people Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 2nd Class 21st-century Lithuanian politicians Communist Party of Lithuania politicians Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania politicians Social Democratic Party of Lithuania politicians Social Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania politicians