Linas Jonauskas

He was born on 1979-07-11 in the city of Mažeikiai, Lithuania.

He is married to a woman named Evita and they have a son named Elvinas.

In 2017, he completed studies at the Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences (now part of Vytautas Magnus University Education Academy) in Social Industries and Communication.

In 2007, he graduated from Vilnius Pedagogical University (now part of Vytautas Magnus University Education Academy) as a social pedagogue.

He finished Mažeikių Senamiesčio Secondary School in 1997 (now known as Mažeikių Senamiesčio Basic School).

In 1997, he completed the experimental Republican School for Young Leaders.

From 2012 to 2016, he served as a Vice-Minister at the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania.

From 2008 to 2012, he worked as an assistant (referent) to a member of the Seimas (Lithuanian Parliament).

From 2007 to 2008, he served as an advisor to the Prime Minister in the Chancellery of the Government of Lithuania.

From 2000 to 2004, he served as an assistant-secretary to Seimas member Kęstutis Kriščiūnas.

In 1999, at age 20, he served as an assistant to Member of the Seimas Juozas Olekas.

From 1998 to 2000, he worked as a teacher at the Mažeikiai Senamiesčio Secondary School.

He has been a member of the 14th Seimas (Parliament) since November 14, 2024, representing the Social Democratic Party.

He served as a member of the 13th Seimas from November 13, 2020 until November 14, 2024.

He served as the Executive Secretary of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party from 2016 to 2020.

Since 2003, he has been a member of the Presidium (governing board) of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party.

In 2003, he became the chairman of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Youth Union (LSDJS).

In 2000, he was elected as a vice-chairman of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Youth Union.

In 1998, he established the Mažeikiai branch of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Youth Union (LSDJS) and served as its chairman until 2000.

He has been a member of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party since 1997.

He serves as the honorary chairman of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Youth Union (LSDJS).

Since 2024, he has been the Chairman of the Seimas Environmental Protection Committee.

In the Seimas, he is a member of the Social Democratic Party’s parliamentary faction.

During 2020–2024, he was a member of the Seimas Environmental Protection Committee.

He was also a member of the Seimas Energy and Sustainable Development Commission from 2020 to 2024.

He served as a member of the Joint Commission of the Seimas and the World Lithuanian Community during 2020–2024.

He was re-elected to the Seimas in 2024, again via the Social Democratic Party’s electoral list.

In the 2024 Seimas elections, he was the Social Democrats’ candidate for the Pasaulio lietuvių (World Lithuanians) single-mandate constituency, which represents the Lithuanian diaspora. He did not win that district seat, but was re-elected to the Seimas via the party’s national list (proportional representation).

In the March 2023 municipal elections, he ran as the Social Democratic candidate for Mayor of Vilnius. He did not advance to the second round of the mayoral race (which was contested by Valdas Benkunskas and Artūras Zuokas), as his first-round support was in the single digits (insufficient for a runoff position).

In 2022, the LSDP Vilnius city branch put forward Linas Jonauskas as a potential candidate for the 2023 Vilnius mayoral election.

He was elected to the Seimas in 2020 on the Social Democratic Party’s list (proportional representation).

In 2020, Jonauskas was ranked third on the Social Democratic Party’s candidate list and was fielded in the newly established World Lithuanians single-mandate constituency. He did not win that constituency seat, but secured a Seimas mandate via the party’s multi-member list due to LSDP’s overall election results.

In the 2012 parliamentary elections, he was ranked 97th on the Social Democratic Party’s candidate list. He received 262 preferential votes, which placed him at 129th in the final list order —far too low to win a Seimas seat, as LSDP secured 38 mandates that year.

Prior to 2020, he had stood as a candidate in earlier parliamentary elections (e.g., in 2008 and 2012) but did not secure a Seimas seat in those elections.

In the 2008 parliamentary elections, Jonauskas was ranked #10 on the Social Democratic Party’s list and received 3,150 preferential (reitingo) votes. This placed him 18th in the final list order, which was not high enough to secure a Seimas seat that year (LSDP won 25 mandates in 2008).

He also campaigned in a single-member constituency during the 2008 Seimas elections. The Social Democrats nominated him in the Kėdainių district (Apgarda Nr. 43), but he did not win that seat (LSDP gained representation only via the multi-member list that year).

As a member of the Seimas since 2020, he receives a state salary. In late 2024, the base monthly salary for a Seimas member was about €4,000 "į rankas" (net after taxes), and committee chairpersons like Jonauskas receive slightly higher pay (estimated ~15% more).

His and his family’s asset declarations remained largely unchanged through 2021–2022. Notably, in 2022 his wife Evita for the first time declared owning some property – land plots in Lithuania valued at roughly €9,000.

By 2020, Jonauskas’s declaration showed he owned residential property in Lithuania valued at around €205,000, and again had significant liabilities – about €170,000 in outstanding loans. His wife still declared no assets during that period.

After marrying in 2015, his declared assets changed drastically: in that year’s filing he no longer listed any real estate and had cleared all debts, leaving only about €10,000 in cash; meanwhile, his wife Evita Jonauskė declared having no assets at all.

Public asset declarations show unusual swings in Jonauskas’s wealth. After 2013, he declared about €450k in real estate value and €357k in debts, but by 2015 he reported having no property and no liabilities (just €10k in savings). Later, his 2020 filing showed owning ~€205k in housing and owing ~€170k in loans, and in 2022 his wife Evita for the first time declared a small asset (land worth ~€9k). These dramatic changes in declared assets over a few years were noted in the media, although no official explanation or wrongdoing has been reported.

According to his 2013 asset declaration, he owned approximately €450,000 worth of real estate and held about €44,000 in cash savings, while also having an outstanding debt of roughly €357,000.

During his tenure as Vice-Minister of Environment (2012–2016), he was a senior government official. Vice-Ministers’ salaries at that time can be estimated in the range of €3,000–€4,000 gross per month (roughly €1,800–€2,500 net, estimated).

Throughout his career, Jonauskas’s income has come from public service roles or party positions. For example, in 2020 as a Seimas member, his base monthly salary was about €4,000 net (committee chairs earn slightly more). Earlier, as an Environment Vice-Minister (2012–2016), his gross salary was on the order of €3,000–€3,500 per month (roughly €1,800–€2,200 net, by contemporary estimates). In prior supporting roles (e.g., as a parliamentarian’s assistant or a schoolteacher in the late 1990s), his earnings would have been modest and in line with public-sector pay scales of those years.

In 2023, fellow MP Petras Gražulis faced an impeachment inquiry for allegedly casting a vote on Jonauskas’s behalf during a parliamentary session.

He is a well-known environmentalist and became notable for fighting against poachers and other environmental violations.

He initiated a national tree-planting campaign and a social initiative called “Žvejok”, which almost every year gathers 300–500 children for fishing activities.

In 2021, he published a guidebook for young amateur anglers titled "Mano didžiausia žuvis" ("My Biggest Fish").

In 2005, he was elected as a member of the Lithuanian Youth Affairs Council (Lietuvos jaunimo reikalų taryba).

In 1996, he was one of the founders of the Mažeikiai Youth Organizations Union.

He speaks English and Russian in addition to his native Lithuanian.

His hobbies include traveling and fishing.