Šarūnas Birutis (born September 20, 1961, in

Šiauliai Šiauliai ( ; ) is a city in northern Lithuania, the List of cities in Lithuania, country's fourth largest city and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, sixth largest city in the Baltic States, with a population of 112 581 in 202 ...

) is a Lithuanian politician. He is the Lithuanian

minister of culture A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organiza ...

in the

Gintautas Paluckas Gintautas Paluckas (; born 19 August 1979) is a Lithuanian politician who has served as the 18th prime minister of Lithuania since December 2024. He was previously Deputy Mayor of Vilnius from 2015 to 2019, led the Lithuanian Social Democratic P ...

-led government since 2024. He earlier served as a

member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

from 2004 to 2009, and was part of the

Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE; , ADLE) was a transnational alliance between two European political parties, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party and the European Democratic Party. ALDE had political ...

Early life

Šarūnas Birutis was born on 20 September 1961 in

Šiauliai county Šiauliai County () is one of ten counties in Lithuania. It is in the north of the country, and its capital is Šiauliai. On 1 July 2010, the county administration was abolished, and since that date, Šiauliai County remains as a territorial a ...

. He completed his schooling from J. Janonis Secondary School in Šiauliai in 1979. In 1984, he received a bachelor's degree in economics from

Vilnius University Vilnius University ( Lithuanian: ''Vilniaus universitetas'') is a public research university, which is the first and largest university in Lithuania, as well as one of the oldest and most prominent higher education institutions in Central and Ea ...

. In 2003, he obtained a master's degree in law from Law University of Lithuania in 2003.

Career

Business

While studying for his degree in economics, he worked in the finance division in the state academic drama theatre from 1982 to 1984. After his studies, he was employed by the Kaunas Combined Heat and Power Plant in the planning division in 1984. In 1986, he joined the administration of

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

city committee in a finance supervisory role. After working there till 1990, he ventured into private business, and established the Lithuanian Writers Union Publishing House. During the time, he also worked on establishing the tourism industry in Lithuania. He also served as the president of the Baltic-Indian Chambers of Commerce and the vice-president of the Lithuanian-Indian Forum.

Politics

In 1999, Birutis joined the Ministry of Economy as the head of the small and medium business division. He served as the representative of the Lithuanian Union of Industrial Employers from 2002 to 2003. He was appointed as the ember of the State Commission on Gambling Supervision by the

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

in 2003. He was part of the delegation that negotiated for the accession of Lithuania into the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. In 2004, he was elected to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

, where he was part of the

. He joined the

Committee on Industry, Research and Energy A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

and

Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection The Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) is a committee of the European Parliament. Work of the committee The committee is responsible for: * Coordination at Community level of national legislation in the sphere of th ...

, and was a member of the European Energy Forum. Birutis served as a member of the Vilnius City Council from 2011 to 2012. He was elected to the Parliament of Lithuania in the held in the 2012 Lithuanian parliamentary election as a member of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party. He was a member of the Committees on foreign affairs, European affairs, human rights, and anti-corruption. He was appointed as the

Minister of Culture A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organiza ...

on 13 December 2012. He served as a member of the parliament till 2016. In 2024, he was re-elected to the parliament, and was re-appointed as the minister of culture.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birutis, Sarunas 1961 births Living people Labour Party (Lithuania) MEPs MEPs for Lithuania 2004–2009 Vilnius University alumni Mykolas Romeris University alumni Politicians from Šiauliai Ministers of culture of Lithuania Politicians from Vilnius Members of the Seimas