Gediminas Kirkilas

Infobox Prime Minister
name = Gediminas Kirkilas


imagesize = 150px
order = Prime Minister of Lithuania
president = Valdas Adamkus
deputy =
term_start = 4 July 2006
term_end =
predecessor = Zigmantas Balčytis
successor =
order2 = Minister of National Defense
term_start2 = December 14 2004
term_end2 = July 18 2006
predecessor2 = Linas Linkevičius
successor2 = Juozas Olekas
birth_date = birth date and age|1951|8|30|mf=y
birth_place = Vilnius, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union
death_date =
death_place =
party = LSDP
spouse = Liudmila Kirkilienė
religion =

Gediminas Kirkilas (pronunciation|Gediminas Kirkilas.ogg, b. August 30 1951, Vilnius, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union) is the current Prime Minister of Lithuania. He was appointed on July 4 2006 after Zigmantas Balčytis, the provisional Prime Minister, failed to gather the required support from the Seimas. Kirkilas managed to get the necessary support from the Seimas on July 4 2006 ( [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5144670.stm] ).

After he returned from mandatory military service, from 1972 to 1978 he worked in many cultural monuments (eg. churches or the Verkiai Palace) restoring their interior and especially rolled gold and moldeling. In 1978–1982 he was a student of Political science. After graduation he joined the Communist Party of Lithuania and took various posts there. After Algirdas Brazauskas became the secretary of the party, Kirkilas became his press secretary.

Since the independence was declared on March 11 1990, Kirkilas was involved in the state matters and was elected four times (in 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004) to the Seimas under the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania ballot. He became defense minister of Lithuania on December 7 2004.

In 2004, he received an MBA from the International Business School in Vilnius.

In January 2007 he was praised in "The Economist" as an unsung hero whose "minority administration has surpassed all expectations". ^{[http://www.economist.com/daily/columns/europeview/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8491837]}

Criticism and public perception

In July 2007, Kirkilas signed the protocol assigning the members of newly formed governmental workgroup to assist the energy company „Lietuvos energija“ in negotiating and consulting with potential foreign partners for a new Ignalina nuclear power plant project. A public turmoil followed after occurrence of Darius' Jurgelevičius name in the list of the work group. After the so-called State Security Departament scandal in 2006, when a senior officer Vytautas Pociūnas died under controversial circumstances in a hotel in Belarus; the witnesses described Darius Jurgelevičius as a middleman transmitting then Lithuanian Foreign Ministry's clerk Albinas's Januška influence to State Security Departament. Albinas Januška currently works as G. Kirkilas's advisor. [ [http://www.delfi.lt/archive/article.php?id=13844754 www.delfi.lt Article in lithuanian 2007-07-21] ]

In July 2007, before handing his powers to his successors, Vidmantas Jankauskas the chairman of Governmental prices & energy control commission "Valstybinė kainų ir energetikos kontrolės komisija" spoke about the ties between Gas companies & the Prime Minister G.Kirkilas, saying: a gas company „„Lietuvos dujos“ is privately lobbying G.Kirkilas and the second Lithuanian monopilist gas company „Dujotekana“ - Ministry of Economics. „Lietuvos dujos“ CEO Viktoras Valentukevičius meets Kirkilas privately to play tennis. [lt icon [http://www.delfi.lt/archive/article.php?id=13844754 www.delfi.lt article] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.ministraspirmininkas.lt/Default.aspx Official site]