Artūras Skardžius

Artūras Skardžius was born on 1960-11-17 in Subačius town, Kupiškis district, Lithuania.

He graduated in 1986 from Vilnius Civil Engineering Institute (now Vilnius Gediminas Technical University) with a degree as an engineer-economist.

In 1978 he finished Panevėžys 2nd Secondary School (now Vytautas Žemkalnis Gymnasium).

In the late 1990s, Skardžius served as a board member of the company AB “Dzūkijos dujos” (a regional gas supplier in the Dzūkija/Alytus area).

After narrowly failing to win a mandate in the 2020 elections, Skardžius was hired as an advisor (parliamentary assistant) to MP Vytautas Gapšys of the Labour Party, and worked in Gapšys’s team until Skardžius re-entered the Seimas in 2021.

Between 2009 and 2012 he worked as the Vilnius regional manager for UAB “AS Double Invest.”

In 1999–2000 he served as director of the company UAB “Rastma.”

From 1994 to 1998 he was the commercial director of “Nefra,” a joint Lithuanian-German-Turkish company.

He served as director of the private company UAB “Askara” from 1991 to 1993.

From 1988 to 1991 he was a lecturer at Vilnius City 2nd Vocational Technical School.

From 1983 to 1988 he worked at the Vilnius City Housing Management Authority as a senior engineer and head of the production department.

He became a member of the new political party “Nemuno Aušra” (Dawn of Nemunas) in 2024.

In 2020, Skardžius was a member of the Labour Party and ran in that year’s parliamentary elections under the Labour Party ticket.

After leaving LSDP, he joined the newly formed Lithuanian Social Democratic Labour Party (LSDDP) created by the breakaway ex-social democrats.

In 2017 he left the Social Democratic Party along with others, after the LSDP council decided to end the coalition with the ruling Farmers party.

He joined the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) in 2012, just before the parliamentary elections that year (invited by Česlovas Juršėnas).

Skardžius has served in the Seimas (Lithuanian Parliament) during 2000–2008, 2012–2020, and returned as a member from 2021 onwards.

From 2000 to 2004, he was a Deputy Speaker of the Seimas (Vice Chairman of Parliament).

Skardžius was a member of the New Union (Social Liberals) party from its founding in 1998 until 2006.

In late 2024, after the parliamentary elections, Skardžius became the chairman of the Seimas Audit Committee, reprising a position he had held in the mid-2000s (though traditionally this committee’s leadership is given to the opposition).

During 2016–2017, he was vice-chairman of the Seimas Energy Commission.

In the 2012–2016 term, he served as deputy chairman of the Seimas Economics Committee.

He was chairman of the Seimas Audit Committee during his 2004–2008 parliamentary term.

He chaired the Seimas Commission on Narcotics Prevention in 2000–2004.

He led the Lithuanian delegation to the Lithuania–Poland Parliamentary Assembly (joint parliamentarians’ assembly) during 2000–2004.

In the 2024 parliamentary elections, the Dawn of Nemunas ("Nemuno Aušra") party secured 18 seats in the Seimas, with Skardžius gaining a mandate via the party’s list.

Skardžius entered the 13th Seimas on 2021-03-10 by taking the Labour Party seat vacated by Antanas Guoga’s resignation.

He ran in the 2020 elections under the Labour Party; he narrowly missed winning a seat initially, placing just below the cutoff line.

In the 2016 parliamentary elections he was elected as an MP on the Social Democratic Party’s national list.

He did not hold a seat in the 2008–2012 term, but in 2012 he returned to the Seimas by winning the single-member Šilutė–Pagėgiai constituency as an LSDP candidate.

In 2004 he was re-elected to Parliament via the coalition list “For Work for Lithuania” led by Algirdas Brazauskas and Artūras Paulauskas.

Throughout his career, Skardžius has alternated between single-member constituencies and party lists: he entered the Seimas by winning the Alytus district in 2000 and Šilutė–Pagėgiai in 2012, while in 2004, 2016, and 2024 he obtained his seat via party lists.

He served in the Eighth Seimas from October 19, 2000, to November 14, 2004 (first term as MP).

In the 2000 Seimas elections he was elected as an MP from the single-member Alytus constituency, nominated by the New Union (Social Liberals).

Skardžius’s wife, Snieguolė Skardžiuvienė, earns significant income from leasing their private land to wind energy companies – roughly €23,863 per year (before taxes) as of 2018.

In 2012, Skardžius’s family saw a sudden increase in wealth after selling their loss-making company “Kornelita” – his wife received a total of 900,000 LTL (about €262,000) from Moscow buyers for the firm, which significantly boosted their assets for that year and raised transparency concerns.

He was president of the Lithuanian Renewable Resources Energy Association (Lietuvos atsinaujinančių išteklių energetikos asociacija) from 2008 to 2012.

From 2008 to 2012 he was a member of the Lithuanian Renewable Resources Energy Confederation.

He was also a member of the Lithuanian Business Confederation during 2008–2012.

From 1998 to 2000 he was the president of the Lithuanian Fruit and Vegetable Trade Companies Association “Vaisiai ir daržovės.”

He is listed as a member of the Lithuanian Chamber of Healthy Lifestyle and Natural Medicine (Sveikos gyvensenos ir natūralios medicinos rūmai).

After losing his Seimas seat in 2020, Skardžius received a parliamentary severance payment (~12 thousand euros net), which he was not required to return upon rejoining the Seimas in 2021 due to legal provisions.

On 2018-06-20, a special Seimas investigation commission decided there was no basis to initiate an impeachment process against Skardžius over his alleged conflicts of interest in the energy sector.

In early 2018, the Seimas formed a special commission to determine if Skardžius grossly violated the Constitution or his oath by promoting a related wind energy business and concealing personal gains.

In June 2018, a special Seimas commission concluded that while Skardžius had committed some ethical violations in relation to energy businesses, they were not deemed grave; furthermore, the commission’s inquiry found no evidence that Skardžius influenced his family’s wind farm land lease contracts or improperly benefited from them.

In June 2017, the Seimas Ethics and Procedures Commission opened an investigation into Skardžius over a possible conflict of interest involving leases of his family land to wind energy companies.

Investigative journalists reported that in 2012 Skardžius’s family sold their company “Kornelita” to a group of Moscow investors for 900,000 LTL, despite the firm’s losses.

President Valdas Adamkus conferred on Artūras Skardžius the Order "For Merit to Lithuania" (Komandoro kryžius – Commander's Cross) on 2003-02-16, during the Independence Day state awards ceremony.

On 2003-02-12, a Presidential decree awarded Skardžius (among others) a special commemorative insignia to mark Lithuania’s invitation to join NATO.