Ilona Gelažnikienė

She is married to a man named Rimvydas and has a daughter named Eiminta.

Ilona Gelažnikienė was born on 18 May 1971 in Linkuva, Pakruojis district.

She earned a Master’s degree in Social Sciences (Education) from the Šiauliai Pedagogical Institute (now Vilnius University Šiauliai Academy) in 1996.

In 1993, she graduated from Šiauliai Pedagogical Institute as a qualified primary school teacher.

She completed her secondary education at Linkuva Secondary School in 1989.

After becoming a member of the Seimas in late 2024, Ilona Gelažnikienė’s remuneration shifted to the standard parliamentary salary. As an MP, her base monthly salary is approximately €3,500–4,000 before taxes (for example, in 2019 an ordinary Seimas member’s salary was about €3,356 gross ). Being a Deputy Elder of her faction does not substantially increase this pay. In addition to the base salary, she receives the usual MP allowances (for expenses like travel or office needs) as per law.

In 2023–2024, she worked as the Head of Business Development at the company UAB “Žeimelio trikotažas”.

She also worked as a consultant at UAB “Omniteksas” in 2023–2024.

During 2023–2024 she transitioned to the private sector – serving as UAB “Žeimelio trikotažas” Business Development Head and as a consultant at UAB “Omniteksas” – where her exact earnings were not public. (Estimated monthly salary ~€2,000–3,000 for the managerial role, based on typical regional private sector pay; **estimate**)

She served as the Director of Pakruojis District Municipality Administration from 2019 to 2023.

As Pakruojis District Municipality Administration Director (2019–2023), Ilona Gelažnikienė’s gross monthly salary was approximately €3,800–4,300 (before taxes).

From 2000 to 2019, Gelažnikienė headed the Pakruojis branch of the Vilnius Žirmūnai Vocational Training Center.

From 2000 to 2019, as head of the Pakruojis branch of the Vilnius Žirmūnai Vocational Training Center (a public sector training institution), Gelažnikienė earned a modest salary. By the late 2010s her gross monthly pay is estimated to have been on the order of €1,000–1,500, in line with typical regional vocational institution salaries. During this two-decade tenure, her income came almost entirely from her public sector salary (with no significant additional revenue streams).

From 1993 to 2000, she worked as a primary school teacher at Šiaulių Šventupio Middle School.

Ilona Gelažnikienė serves as a Deputy Chairperson (Deputy Elder) of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party’s parliamentary faction in the Seimas.

Ilona Gelažnikienė became a member of the Seimas on 14 November 2024, when the 2024–2028 parliamentary term began.

She served as a member of the Pakruojis District Municipal Council from 2023 until 2024.

She was a member of the Pakruojis District Municipality Council’s Collegium (executive board) in 2023–2024.

Gelažnikienė was a member of the LSDP party’s national council from 2020 to 2023.

She has been a member of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) since 2017, serving on the party’s Pakruojis branch council.

On 4 December 2024, she joined the Seimas Anti-Corruption Commission as a member.

She became a member of the Seimas Committee for the Future on 19 November 2024.

Since 19 November 2024, she has been serving as a member of the Seimas Committee on Economics.

She served as Chair of the Pakruojis District Municipal Council’s Economics and Finance Committee from 2023 to 2024.

She was a member of the Pakruojis District Municipal Council’s Anti-Corruption Commission during 2023–2024.

In the 2024 Seimas elections, Gelažnikienė won the Žiemgalos rytinė (Eastern Žiemgala) single-member constituency (No. 47) as the LSDP candidate. She led the first round with 35.66% of the vote and in the runoff defeated TS-LKD candidate Donatas Dilys, securing about 69% support in the second round.

Ilona Gelažnikienė’s victory in the Žiemgalos rytinė single-member constituency in 2024 represented a significant political shift in that district. In the previous parliamentary elections (2016 and 2020), the seat had been held by long-time TS-LKD MP Antanas Matulas, with Social Democratic candidates not even making the runoff. By contrast, in 2024 Gelažnikienė led the first round (35.66% of the vote) and went on to decisively win the second round (defeating the TS-LKD candidate Donatas Dilys with roughly two-thirds of the vote). This marked the first time an LSDP candidate won that constituency, flipping it away from the conservatives.

In the 2024 Seimas elections, Gelažnikienė’s victory in the Žiemgalos rytinė single-member constituency marked a political shift. Previously this seat had been long held by TS-LKD (Conservative) MP Antanas Matulas (who had won in 2016 and 2020, with LSDP candidates not making the runoff). In 2024, however, Gelažnikienė led the first round with 35.66% of the vote and went on to win the runoff decisively, defeating TS-LKD candidate Donatas Dilys (she secured ~69% of the vote to Dilys’s ~31% in the second round). This was the first time an LSDP candidate captured that constituency.

Gelažnikienė was elected to the Seimas in 2024 from the Žiemgalos Eastern constituency (No. 47) as a candidate of the Social Democratic Party.

In LSDP’s candidate list for the 2024 Seimas elections, Ilona Gelažnikienė was ranked 29th. However, she won a seat by securing victory in the Žiemgalos rytinė single-member constituency, as LSDP’s proportional representation mandates did not reach her list position.

In her official asset disclosures, Gelažnikienė has reported owning a family home (in Pakruojis) and personal vehicle, along with savings from her public service salary. She has not declared any significant debts or liabilities, and her income sources have been her employment compensation (public sector and later private sector). Notably, no sudden or unexplained changes in her declared net worth have been observed over the past several years.

In her asset and income declarations, Gelažnikienė has consistently reported ownership of a family home (her primary residence, in Pakruojis district) and a personal automobile, along with moderate savings derived from her employment earnings. She has not declared any large business holdings, extraordinary gifts, or significant liabilities (such as major debts or loans). Over the past decade, the changes in her declared net worth have been gradual and aligned with her public service income — no sudden spikes or unexplained wealth increases have been noted in the official disclosures.

She is a member of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Women’s Union (Pakruojis branch) since 2019.

In 2024, she supported a Social Democratic proposal to promote environmental protection and the installation of solar panels in municipalities.

Her husband, Rimvydas, previously engaged in farming together with Ilona’s father and is now employed at a company based in Šiauliai.

Her daughter, Eiminta, is a university-trained food technologist living in Kaunas; she works for a large international company and also runs a small personal business creating nutrition plans for clients.

She joined the informal Parliamentary Women’s Group as a member on 12 December 2024.

She is a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Relations Group with the Swiss Confederation (joined on 12 December 2024).

Gelažnikienė became a member of the World Litvaks parliamentary group on 5 December 2024.

On 5 December 2024, she joined the Inter-Parliamentary Relations Group with the Republic of Bulgaria.

She became a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Relations Group with Hungary on 5 December 2024.

She serves as a member of the Seimas delegation to the Lithuanian–Polish Parliamentary Assembly (Seimas and Polish Sejm/Senate members) since 4 December 2024.

On 3 December 2024, she became Deputy Chair of the temporary Panevėžys Region Friends Group in the Seimas.

She is also a member of the Šiauliai Region Friends Group in the Seimas, joining it on 21 November 2024.

As Pakruojis District Municipality Administration Director (2019–2023), she chaired the municipality’s Emergency Situations Commission.

She was the chairperson of the commission that allocated support received on behalf of the Pakruojis District Municipality’s administration (2019–2023).

She was the Chair of the Supervisory Board of the public enterprise Pakruojo Ligoninė (Pakruojis Hospital) from 2019 to 2023.

She chaired the Pakruojis District commission for establishing hunting ground units and altering their boundaries during 2019–2023.

As Pakruojis District Administration Director (2019–2023), she also chaired several municipal working groups – including those for setting water supply and wastewater service prices, determining business license tax rates, setting local service fees, and advising on the municipality’s interests as a shareholder in companies.