Vitalijus Gailius

He is a Lithuanian politician affiliated with the Liberal Movement (Liberalų sąjūdis) and serves as a member of the Seimas.

Vitalijus Gailius was born on July 31, 1969, in Radviliškis, Lithuania.

In 2006, he completed a master’s degree in law (Police Law program) at Mykolas Romeris University, earning the qualification of Master of Laws.

He earned a Law degree at the Lithuanian Police Academy in 1994, obtaining the qualification of a police and internal affairs institutions administrator.

In 1987, Gailius graduated from Kriukai Secondary School in Joniškis district.

After leaving FNTT, he took a position on March 27, 2012, as the Chief Advisor on business risk management to the Chairman of the Board at Western Shipyard (Vakarų laivų gamykla) group.

On October 26, 2011, by order of the Prime Minister, Vitalijus Gailius was granted the rank of Internal Service General.

On July 14, 2010, he was appointed as the Director of the Financial Crime Investigation Service (FNTT) under the Ministry of the Interior.

From 2007 to 2010, Gailius served as the Deputy Director (Deputy Chief) of the Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau.

He later served at the Panevėžys City Police Headquarters and as Deputy Chief of the Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau.

From 1990 to 2000, he worked in various roles within the Joniškis district police divisions (public security and criminal police).

Following the 2024 elections, he resigned as Joniškis District Mayor in order to take up his seat in the Seimas.

After the 2024 Seimas elections, there was speculation that Gailius would be a candidate for the Minister of the Interior post, given his law enforcement background and his party’s potential role in the governing coalition.

He serves as a Deputy Chairperson of the Liberal Movement (vice-chair to the party leader) and is a member of the party’s Board.

After being elected mayor in 2019, he relinquished his parliamentary seat; the election commission formally terminated his mandate as an MP.

He served as a Member of the Seimas in the 2016–2020 legislative term (XII Seimas) until 2019.

Gailius only became an official member of the Liberal Movement party in the autumn of 2015.

He served as a Member of the Seimas during the 2012–2016 legislative term (XI Seimas).

In the 2024–2028 Seimas, Vitalijus Gailius was appointed as Deputy Chair of the Seimas Committee on Law and Law Enforcement.

In the 2016–2020 Seimas, Gailius again chaired the Anti-Corruption Commission until he resigned from that post in early 2019.

During 2012–2016, he was the Chairman of the Seimas Anti-Corruption Commission and a member of the Seimas Law and Order Committee.

In the 2024 elections, Gailius was the only incumbent mayor in Lithuania to win a Seimas seat (out of eight mayors who ran for Parliament).

In the 2024 parliamentary elections, Gailius returned to the Seimas as a member via the Liberal Movement’s national list.

He was re-elected as Joniškis District Mayor in 2023, securing a narrow majority (~52%) of votes in the first round.

In March 2019, Gailius was elected Mayor of Joniškis District in the first direct mayoral elections round, winning over 62% of the votes.

After Gailius won the Joniškis District mayoralty in 2019 and gave up his parliamentary seat, a by-election was held in mid-2019 to fill his vacancy in the Žiemgalos constituency. That September 2019 by-election was won by Arūnas Gumuliauskas (LVŽS), who then took over as the MP for the constituency.

In the 2016 Seimas election, Gailius won re-election in the Žiemgalos constituency, defeating Arūnas Gumuliauskas (LVŽS) in the run-off with approximately 58.8% of the vote.

He was re-elected to the Seimas for a second term in the 2016 parliamentary elections.

In the 2016 Seimas elections, Gailius ran in the newly formed Žiemgalos single-member constituency. He led the first round with about 39.5% of the vote, but ultimately lost in the run-off to Arūnas Gumuliauskas of the LVŽS (Gailius did not win the district seat, but entered the Seimas via the Liberal Movement’s list).

Due to electoral district boundary changes before the 2016 elections, Gailius’s former Pakruojis–Joniškis constituency was merged into the new Žiemgalos single-member constituency (No. 46), which he then contested as the Liberal Movement candidate.

In the 2012 Seimas elections, Gailius was elected to the Parliament in the single-member Pakruojis–Joniškis constituency (No. 46) as a Liberal Movement candidate.

In the 2012 Seimas elections (run-off on Oct. 28), Gailius defeated independent candidate Stasys Tumėnas in the Pakruojis–Joniškis single-member constituency, securing 6,767 votes (about 56.8%) to Tumėnas’s 5,149 (approx. 43.2%).

In the 2012 election, Gailius was also listed as the Liberal Movement’s Nr. 10 candidate in the national multi-member ballot and obtained 5,271 preferential votes (reitingo balsai), although he entered the Seimas via his single-member district win.

According to his 2023 public asset declaration (filed while serving as Joniškis District Mayor), Gailius declared assets totaling about €45,583 and liabilities of roughly €13,016.

As Joniškis District Mayor (2019–2024), Gailius earned a salary on the order of just over €2,000 per month take-home (base pay, excluding length-of-service bonuses).

As a member of the Seimas, Gailius earns a state salary roughly around €3,000 per month before taxes (approximately €1,800 net, as of the late 2010s), in addition to expense allowances.

Gailius’s publicly declared wealth has remained relatively modest, with no unexplained spikes. Even after receiving about €39,000 in compensation for his FNTT dismissal in 2012, his total assets in later years stayed around the mid-five-figure range (for example, ~€44,000 in 2022).

As director of the Financial Crime Investigation Service (FNTT) in 2011–2012, Gailius’s salary can be estimated at roughly 7,000–7,500 LTL per month (around €2,000–€2,200). This is inferred from the court judgment that awarded him about 67,000 LTL in lost wages for the roughly nine-month period following his unlawful dismissal.

In 2018, a report by Lithuania’s State Security Department (VSD) to a parliamentary committee alleged that MG Baltic executives viewed Gailius as a favorable candidate to lead the Liberal Movement after the 2016 bribery scandal, and that MG Baltic (via figures like Raimundas Kurlianskis and journalist Tomas Dapkus) gave Gailius media support and maintained close ties with him starting from 2011.

In late 2017, after the Special Investigation Service (STT) decided to bring influence peddling and bribery charges against the Liberal Movement as a legal entity, Gailius announced he would step down as Chairman of the Seimas Anti-Corruption Commission.

In September 2013, Lithuania’s Supreme Administrative Court upheld that Gailius’s removal from the FNTT post was unlawful.

After being dismissed from FNTT, Gailius won a court case and in late 2012 the Vilnius Regional Administrative Court awarded him over 134,000 Lt (approx €38,800) in compensation for lost wages, severance, and non-pecuniary damage.

In February 2012, Interior Minister Raimundas Palaitis dismissed FNTT director Vitalijus Gailius, citing State Security Department material and allegations that he failed a polygraph regarding leaks of plans against bank Snoras.

After the 2024 election, Gailius stated he would only move from his mayor’s position to the Seimas if the Liberal Movement joined the governing coalition.

He has been recognized with several state honors. Notably, President Gitanas Nausėda awarded Gailius the Officer’s Cross of the Order of the Cross of Vytis – one of three state awards Gailius has received in his career.

In 2009, Gailius was honored with the Knight’s Cross of the Order "For Merit to Lithuania" (Ordinas „Už nuopelnus Lietuvai“ Riterio kryžius).

He was given a special "Named Weapon" award in 2006 and a ceremonial "Named Gift" in 2007 as official recognitions.

In 2003, he was awarded the third-class Police Distinguished Service badge "Angelas Sargas" ("Guardian Angel").

In 1998 and 2001, Gailius received second-class and first-class Ministry of the Interior commemorative badges "Tėvynės labui" ("For the Homeland").

Vitalijus Gailius is married to Daiva (Daiva Gailienė) and they have two sons, Žygimantas and Augustas.