2024-04-26 06:02:11
“No real, valid facts have emerged. The first thing, I already said that this is a public relations operation with the goal of influencing the results of the presidential election. It is an attempt to influence the political system. This can be understood from the fact that this is done a few weeks before voting in the presidential elections”, I. Vēgėlė commented to Elta on Thursday.
The politician emphasizes that the journalistic investigation is in no way related to his person – I. Vėgėlė claims that he is neither a shareholder of “Vilpros” nor a member of the company’s board. In addition, he emphasized, the lawyer’s brother Martynas Vēgėlė, who manages the family company, in his opinion, provided all the answers to the journalists and dispelled doubts about any suspicious activity of “Vilpros”.
“I am not related to the company in any way – I am neither a shareholder, nor a manager, nor a member of the board, nor an employee, nor was I during the mentioned period, nor am I now. My brother, who is the manager, in my understanding, explained everything very clearly – he clearly said that there is no trade with Russia and Belarus, the company does not circumvent any sanctions and does not make any agreements with countries that circumvent sanctions,” assured the presidential candidate.
“I invite you to put the facts on the table and then speak very clearly, instead of making assumptions and intimidation, which in reality are nothing more than an attempt to influence the election,” he answered the initiators of the investigation.
G. Nausėdai retorted: the president could provide his explanations
After journalists published an investigation into the suspicious business activities of the candidate’s family, President Gitanas Nausėda called on I. Vēgėlė to provide explanations to the public about this situation.
“Now it is probably the candidate’s duty to deny these allegations, to say that they are wrong. But this is no longer a matter for my comment,” G. Nausėda told reporters on Thursday.
I. Vēgėlė, reacting to this reply of G. Nausėda, said that the president’s speech “at least makes me smile”.
“The president is not doing his job properly, which he should be doing, instead he is proposing to the candidates to act and perform the duties as he understands what they should do.” Although he does not even have such rights”, said the lawyer.
For his part, he once again called on the president to answer questions about the supporters of his election campaign.
“I would recommend the president, first of all, to answer the public’s questions regarding the use of funds for elections – the use of taxpayers’ money and the use of the entire state apparatus for elections (…). And to answer about the support directly given to him by Teltonika”, said I. Vēgėlė.
“Here, Mr. President could really do his job properly and provide explanations,” he concluded.
The media announced on Wednesday evening that Vilpra, a heating systems trade and installation group managed by the family of presidential candidate I. Vēgėlė, was possibly circumventing the sanctions imposed on Russia. This was revealed by the investigation of “Laisvės TV”, the investigative journalism center “Siena” and the Belarusian research team “Biuro”.
The company categorically denies any involvement in any possible sanctions circumvention mechanism.
2024-04-26 06:02:11