Linas Kukuraitis
Demokratų frakcija „Vardan Lietuvos“
Oficialus Seimo profilis ↗Linas Kukuraitis yra Lietuvos politikas, gimęs 1978 m. gegužės 22 d. Panevėžyje. Jis turi socialinio darbo bakalauro ir magistro laipsnius iš Vilniaus universiteto. Kūrusis socialinių paslaugų sektoriuje, dirbo socialiniu darbuotoju ir vadovu įvairiose organizacijose. Nuo 2016 iki 2020 m. buvo socialinės apsaugos ir darbo ministras Sauliaus Skvernelio vyriausybėje, vėliau tapo Seimo nariu bei aktyviai dalyvauja Demokratų sąjungoje „Vardan Lietuvos“. Yra praktikuojantis katalikas ir dirba socialinių reikalų komitetuose.
Linas Kukuraitis was born on 1978-05-22 in Panevėžys, Lithuania.
Linas Kukuraitis is a Lithuanian politician.
He speaks English, Russian, and German.
He is married to Rima and they have five children (four sons: Džiugas, Jonas, Augustinas, Paulius; and one daughter: Adelė).
He earned a Bachelor’s (2001) and a Master’s (2003) degree in Social Work from Vilnius University.
He served as Director of Vilnius Archdiocese Caritas (a Catholic charity organization) from 2005 to 2016.
During his 12-year tenure as Vilnius Archdiocese Caritas director, he worked for what was described as a “symbolic” salary.
He was the training manager at the public institution "Kitokie projektai" from 2002 until 2016.
He was the head (director) of the Blessed Jurgis Matulaitis Social Center in Vilnius from 2000 to 2005.
From 1997 to 2001, he worked as a social worker in the Vilnius SOS Children’s Village and at the Blessed J. Matulaitis Parish social center.
He taught social work at Vilnius University as an assistant lecturer during 2003–2007 and 2010–2016.
He was one of the founding members of the Demokratų sąjunga „Vardan Lietuvos“ party, established in January 2022.
He served as the elder (seniūnas) of the Democrats "Vardan Lietuvos" parliamentary faction from March to September 2022.
In September 2021, he left the LVŽS parliamentary faction and joined the newly formed opposition Democrats “Vardan Lietuvos” faction in the Seimas.
He became a member of the Seimas (Lithuanian Parliament) in November 2020 and has served continuously through the 13th and 14th Seimas terms.
He served as the Minister of Social Security and Labour from 2016-12-13 to 2020-12-11 in Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis’s government.
He has been serving as a member of the Seimas Commission for the Rights of People with Disabilities since December 2024 (with the commission renamed to "Asmenų su negalia teisių komisija" in April 2025).
He became the Chairman of the Seimas Social Affairs and Labour Committee on 2024-11-21.
He also served on the Seimas Commission for Addiction Prevention from 2021 to 2022.
He served as Deputy Chair of the Seimas Social Affairs and Labour Committee during the 2020–2024 parliamentary term.
He was a member of the Seimas Commission for the Rights of People with Disabilities in 2020–2021.
He ran for the European Parliament in 2024 on the Democrats “Vardan Lietuvos” list but was not elected. The party received 5.95% of the national vote and earned one EP seat (out of 11 for Lithuania), which went to another candidate on the list.
In 2024, he was elected to the Seimas in the single-member Justiniškių–Viršuliškių constituency (No. 7) as a candidate of the Democrats “Vardan Lietuvos” party.
He ran as a candidate for the European Parliament in 2024, representing the Democrats “Vardan Lietuvos” party.
In 2024, he successfully contested the Justiniškių–Viršuliškių single-member constituency (No. 7 in Vilnius) as a Democrats “Vardan Lietuvos” candidate, winning a seat in the 14th Seimas.
In 2020, he was elected to the Seimas as a candidate of the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union (LVŽS) via the multi-member national list.
In the 2020 Seimas elections, he ran with the LVŽS party and was elected via the multi-member list: he was initially 18th on the LVŽS list, but voter preferential votes lifted him to 8th place, earning one of the party’s 16 list seats.
His 2022 asset declaration listed roughly €321,300 of total assets (about €182k in houses, €72.9k in apartments, and €49.6k in land) and no significant debts.
As a rank-and-file Seimas member (13th Seimas), his base salary was about €3,511 gross per month, with higher pay for additional duties (and separate expense allowances).
By late 2020, his ministerial salary was about €2,600 per month net (after taxes), which was lower than the earnings of his subordinates (vice-ministers and even department heads could receive over €3,000 net with allowances).
His personal net worth has not undergone any abrupt increase; in fact, the approximately €321k of assets he declared in 2022 was slightly less than the ~€353k he had declared back in 2016, indicating fairly stable finances over those years.
As Social Security and Labour Minister (2016–2020), he earned an estimated monthly salary of about €3,000–€3,800 (gross).
In the 14th Seimas (since late 2024), he joined multiple informal parliamentary groups, including the Seimas Prayer Group (Laikinoji Maldos grupė), the Family Policy Group, a support group for Tibet, and a group for relations with the Holy See. He also became a member of the Panevėžys Region Friends Group and serves as deputy chairman of the Neringa Friends Group.
He is also a member of newly established inter-parliamentary friendship groups with the Republic of Korea and with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (both from December 2024).
He has served on various councils, including the Lithuanian Social Work Council, the Vilnius City NGO Council, and the board of Caritas Lithuania.
He was the founder of the Blessed Jurgis Matulaitis Social Center in Vilnius.
He has represented Lithuania at numerous international plenary sessions and conferences as a non-governmental organization (NGO) delegate.
In June 2019, President-elect Gitanas Nausėda publicly criticized Minister Kukuraitis, stating that he lacked leadership in managing social care and child protection reforms.
In November 2018, the Chief Official Ethics Commission (VTEK) ruled that Minister Kukuraitis had violated the law on public service ethics by failing to declare a personal loan contract (with Swedbank in 2009) in a timely manner.
In late 2018, public protesters demanded changes to the new child protection law and even called for Minister Linas Kukuraitis to resign over its implementation.
According to 2017 disclosures, as Minister he and his wife declared having about €353,000 in assets and a €33,000 loan in the prior year.
He and his family have intentionally maintained a modest lifestyle; at the start of his ministerial tenure they were living in his parents’ home and driving an old car, as a choice to avoid luxury.
He is a practicing Catholic, actively involved in church community activities.