Rasa Budbergytė

Budbergytė’s husband, Rolandas Galvėnas, is a lawyer who serves as the Director of the Legal Department at the state-owned Turto bankas (State Property Bank). They have one son. The family’s income comes from public-sector employment, and they do not have known private business ventures or extraordinary wealth beyond their declared assets.

Rasa Budbergytė was born on May 8, 1960 in Plungė, Lithuania.

She is a Lithuanian politician and a lawyer by profession.

Budbergytė speaks English and Russian.

Budbergytė is married; her husband serves as the Director of the Legal and Administration Department at the state enterprise Turto bankas, and they have one son.

She graduated from Vilnius University’s Faculty of Law in 1983 with a specialization in civil law (with honors).

She completed her secondary education at Prienų 1-oji vidurinė mokykla (Prienai First Secondary School) in 1977.

During 2014–2015, Budbergytė served as the Chair of the First Chamber of the European Court of Auditors.

She was a Member of the European Court of Auditors from 2010 to 2016.

She was elected as a member of the Governing Board of EUROSAI (European Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions), and served as Vice-Chair of EUROSAI from 2006 to 2008.

Budbergytė served as the Auditor General of Lithuania (Valstybės kontrolierė) from 2005 until 2010.

From 2002 to 2005 she was the Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior of Lithuania.

She served as Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior in 2001–2002.

In early 2001 (February to May), she worked as a lecturer at the Law University of Lithuania (now Mykolas Romeris University), teaching in the Faculty of Law’s Department of Family Law and Civil Procedure.

From 1998 to 2002, Budbergytė served as a member of the Board of the State Enterprise “Valstybės turto fondas” (State Property Fund).

From 1998 to 2000 Budbergytė was a Vice-Minister (Deputy Minister) at the Ministry of Justice.

She was the Chairperson of the Government’s Petitions Commission from 1998 to 2000.

In 1997–1998 she served as the Secretary of the Ministry of Justice of Lithuania.

Since 1997, she has been an assistant in the Department of Labour Law at Vilnius University’s Faculty of Law.

From 1995 to 1997 Budbergytė was employed as a legal counsel (jurist) at the textile company AB “Lelija”.

In early 1993, Budbergytė served as an aide to Prime Minister Adolfas Šleževičius.

From 1992 to 1993, she worked as an adviser in the Law and Contracts Department of the Ministry of International Economic Relations of Lithuania.

During 1992–1993, she acted as a legal expert in governmental working groups negotiating agreements with the World Bank and Japan’s Eximbank, and was a member of Lithuania’s delegation in talks with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

From 1985 to 1992 she worked at the Ministry of Social Security and Labour of Lithuania.

From 1985 to 1992, Budbergytė served at the Lithuanian Ministry of Social Security, where she held positions including a leading inspector in the Disabled Affairs Division and later a senior consultant in the Legislation Drafting Division.

From 1983 to 1985, Budbergytė headed the General Department of the Marijampolė City Administration.

She has served as Deputy Speaker (Vice-Chairperson of the Seimas) since November 14, 2024.

Since January 2023, Budbergytė has served as a substitute member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), representing Lithuania.

Budbergytė again became the Social Democratic parliamentary faction leader in November 2023.

She served as the leader (senior) of the Social Democratic Party’s parliamentary faction from November 2019 to November 2020.

Since 2017 she has been a Vice-Chair (Deputy Chairperson) of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party.

For a brief period in October–November 2017, she was a member of the Social Democratic Labour Party (LSDDP) parliamentary faction.

She was the Minister of Finance of Lithuania from June 2016 to December 2016 in Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius’s government.

Rasa Budbergytė became a member of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) in 2016.

She was a member of the Communist Party of Lithuania until 1990.

Since November 19, 2024, Budbergytė has been a member of the Seimas Budget and Finance Committee.

She has been the Chair of the Seimas European Affairs Committee since November 21, 2024.

Budbergytė served as the Deputy Chairwoman of the Seimas Audit Committee during the 2020–2024 term (from late 2020 to 2024).

She was a member of the Seimas Committee for the Future from December 17, 2020 until November 14, 2024.

She was also a member of the Seimas Migration Commission from 2018 to 2020.

She was a member of the Seimas Budget and Finance Committee from November 21, 2017 until November 13, 2020.

From November 2016 to November 2020, Budbergytė was Deputy Chair of the Seimas European Affairs Committee.

She served as a member of the Seimas Audit Committee from November 2016 to November 2017.

In the 2024 elections, she was again elected to the Seimas (14th Seimas) on the Social Democratic Party’s list, starting her term on November 14, 2024.

In the 2024 Seimas elections, the Social Democratic Party substantially improved its performance, finishing first in the multi-member constituency with about 19.7% of the vote. Budbergytė, positioned near the top of the LSDP list, again won a seat via the party list for the 14th Seimas.

She was re-elected to the Seimas for the 2020–2024 term (13th Seimas), serving from November 13, 2020 to November 14, 2024, via the LSDP list.

In the 2020 Seimas elections, the LSDP won 13 seats in total. Budbergytė was re-elected via the LSDP list, and by the final count of preference votes she ranked immediately after party leader Gintautas Paluckas among the list-elected Social Democrats (indicating strong support from voters on the party list).

In 2019, Rasa Budbergytė ran as a candidate for the European Parliament.

All of Budbergytė’s parliamentary seats have been won via the Social Democratic Party’s list in the nationwide multi-member constituency. In the Seimas elections of 2016, 2020, and 2024 she did not win a single-member (district) mandate – instead, she was elected each time on the LSDP’s proportional representation list.

Budbergytė was first elected to the Seimas in 2016 (12th Seimas) and served from November 14, 2016 to November 13, 2020, via the Social Democratic Party’s list.

In the 2016 parliamentary elections, Budbergytė was listed 3rd on the Social Democratic Party’s candidate list. The LSDP won 17 seats in that election, securing her a mandate in the 12th Seimas. (She received enough "pirmumo" preference votes to remain among the top LSDP candidates when mandates were allocated.)

In the 2016 Seimas elections, Budbergytė was also a candidate in Vilnius’s Verkių single-member constituency. She did not win that district seat – TS-LKD candidate Dainius Kreivys won Verkių in the second round – but Budbergytė entered the Seimas via the LSDP’s nationwide list (where she was ranked #3).

Budbergytė has each year publicly declared her assets and income as required by law. According to the 2023 data released by the State Tax Inspectorate (VMI), 121 individuals in Lithuania (including 4 Seimas members) declared wealth of at least €1 million – Budbergytė was not among them, indicating her declared assets are below that seven-figure threshold.

As a member of the Seimas, Budbergytė’s base monthly salary was about €2,570 (gross) in 2018, and after becoming a Deputy Speaker of the Seimas in 2024 her monthly salary rose to roughly €2,970 (gross) due to the higher parliamentary post.

Budbergytė’s publicly declared assets have remained moderate. She is not listed among the wealthiest Lithuanian politicians; for instance, the threshold to be in the top 20 richest Seimas members was around €320,000 in declared wealth (e.g., former Speaker Viktoras Pranckietis declared about €321.6k), and Budbergytė’s total assets have been below that level. This indicates her net worth is in the low six figures (in euros) and far from the millionaire tier.

During her tenure as a Member of the European Court of Auditors (2010–2016), Budbergytė’s basic salary was about €229,000 per year (approximately €19,100 per month), and she received an additional 15% expatriation allowance on top of that salary.

As Auditor General of Lithuania from 2005 to 2010, Budbergytė had an official salary determined by a coefficient of 12.62 applied to the base wage, which in 2009 amounted to roughly 6,000 LTL per month (around €1,740, gross, estimated).

Budbergytė’s immediate family – her husband and one son – does not have any known private business holdings or extraordinary wealth. Her husband works in the public sector as a department director at the state enterprise Turto bankas, meaning the family’s income is derived largely from public-sector salaries.

In 2017, concerns were raised about a potential conflict of interest regarding Budbergytė’s husband Rolandas Galvėnas being hired as a department head at the state enterprise Turto bankas while she was serving as Finance Minister in 2016. However, the Chief Official Ethics Commission (VTEK) reviewed the matter and decided not to open an investigation, and Budbergytė stated she had no involvement in her husband’s employment process.

In 2009, Rasa Budbergytė was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas (Komandoro didysis kryžius).