Karolis Podolskis

Karolis Podolskis was born on June 13, 1985, in Vilkaviškis district municipality (Lithuania).

Karolis Podolskis is married.

In 2013, Podolskis earned a Master’s degree in public policy from Mykolas Romeris University.

In 2010, he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in social work from Klaipėda University.

In 2008, Podolskis obtained a Bachelor’s degree in social work from Marijampolė College.

From 2017 to 2024, he served as the Director of the Marijampolė municipal administration.

In 2016–2017, Podolskis served as the Government’s representative in Marijampolė County.

From 2011 to 2016, he worked as an assistant-secretary to a Member of the Seimas (Parliament).

In 2010–2011, Podolskis was the Deputy Director for economic affairs at the Marijampolė Cultural Center.

From 2008 to 2010, he worked as a senior specialist in the Education, Social Affairs and Services division of the Marijampolė County Governor’s Administration.

Before becoming the LSDP’s Marijampolė branch leader, Podolskis served as a deputy chairman of that party branch (the local party chapter’s vice-chairman).

On December 23, 2025, he proposed that the Seimas hold a secret ballot to decide on President’s nominee Nida Grunskienė for the position of Prosecutor General.

On December 23, 2025, he proposed that the Seimas hold a secret ballot to decide on the President’s nominee Nida Grunskienė for the position of Prosecutor General.

In late June 2025, Podolskis took part in a Seimas working visit to the European Court of Auditors in Luxembourg as part of an official parliamentary delegation.

In 2025, Podolskis introduced and secured the passage of amendments to Lithuania’s Social Services Law, ensuring that all personal care workers could attend the mandatory 160-hour training free of charge.

By 2025, Podolskis became the chairman of the LSDP’s Marijampolė branch, which made him a member of the party’s national presidium (replacing Mayor Povilas Isoda, who suspended his membership amid a scandal).

Karolis Podolskis has been a Member of the Seimas (Lithuanian Parliament) since November 14, 2024.

Since November 14, 2024, Podolskis has served as Deputy Chair of the Social Democratic Party’s parliamentary group in the Seimas.

While serving as a Marijampolė municipal councillor, Podolskis also led the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party’s faction in the Marijampolė Municipal Council (acting as the faction’s seniūnas, or leader).

He served as a member of the Marijampolė Municipal Council from 2011 to 2016.

He led the Marijampolė branch of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Youth Union (LSDJS) from 2006 to 2007.

He has been a member of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) since 2006.

Podolskis served as a member of the Seimas Commission for the Rights of People with Disabilities from December 4, 2024 to April 9, 2025, and resumed this role on April 10, 2025.

He is a member of the Seimas Committee on Audit, a position he assumed on November 19, 2024.

He also became a member of the Seimas Conference of Chairs on November 14, 2024.

In the 2024 parliamentary elections, Podolskis won the Marijampolė single-member constituency, securing just over 54% of votes in the run-off and defeating LVŽS candidate Dainius Gaižauskas (who received just over 40%).

In the 2024 Seimas elections, Podolskis was listed as an LSDP candidate in the nationwide multi-member constituency as well as running in Marijampolė single-member district. He did receive preferential votes on the party list, but ultimately did not need a list seat — he entered parliament by winning the Marijampolė constituency outright in the second round.

Podolskis was initially placed 36th on LSDP’s national candidate list for the 2024 parliamentary elections.

As a newly-elected Seimas member from late 2024, Podolskis’s official monthly salary jumped to approximately €3,780 net (around €4,700 gross), reflecting a pay raise for MPs under a 2024 law.

As Director of Marijampolė’s municipal administration (2017–2024), Podolskis’s earnings were significantly higher – roughly on the order of €2,500–€3,000 gross per month (estimated), well above the national average salary at the time.

Like other public officials, Podolskis has filed annual asset and income declarations. These indicate that his personal wealth has been moderate and in line with his public-service income, with no significant liabilities or abrupt unexplained increases noted in the past decade.

While working as a Seimas member’s assistant (2011–2016), Podolskis’s salary was relatively modest – on the order of a few hundred euros per month (in the mid-2010s, Lithuania’s average net monthly wage was around €600–700).

On December 10, 2024, Podolskis became a member of the Seimas Provisional Group of Friends of the Sudovia Region.

In December 2024, he joined several inter-parliamentary groups in the Seimas, including those promoting relations with Japan, Germany, France, and Azerbaijan.

At the same time, he was also included in parliamentary relations groups with the United Arab Emirates, the United States, and Ukraine.

In 2015–2016, he served as a member of the Marijampolė Regional Development Council.

He chaired the Marijampolė Municipal Youth Affairs Council from 2007 to 2011.

From 2006 to 2008, Podolskis was a member of the student representative council at Marijampolė College (Marijampolė Institution of Higher Education).

In June 2025, Podolskis (as LSDP’s deputy faction leader) requested the Seimas to urgently adopt Criminal Code amendments that would limit liability in the municipal “expense receipts” cases—an unusual procedural move made after the draft had already passed deliberation. This triggered the Seimas Ethics and Procedures Commission to launch an investigation into a possible breach of procedure.

In 2025, Podolskis was questioned in an expense receipts scandal involving Marijampolė Mayor Povilas Isoda; he stated he could not explain how his fuel receipts ended up in the mayor’s reimbursement documents.