Ignas Vėgėlė
Lietuvos valstiečių ir žaliųjų sąjungos frakcija
Oficialus Seimo profilis ↗Ignas Vėgėlė yra Lietuvos teisininkas ir politikas, gimęs 1975 m. liepos 22 d. Vilniuje. Jis yra teisinės srities specialistas, turintis platų akademinį išsilavinimą ir ilgametę patirtį advokatūroje bei teisės mokslinėje veikloje. Nuo 2024 m. lapkričio yra Seimo narys, priklausantis Lietuvos valstiečių ir žaliųjų sąjungos frakcijai bei dalyvaujantis įvairiose parlamentinėse komisijose. Iki tol buvo Lietuvos advokatų tarybos pirmininkas ir aktyviai dalyvavo teisės profesinėse organizacijose. 2024 m. prezidento rinkimuose užėmė trečią vietą pirmajame ture.
Ignas Vėgėlė was born on 1975-07-22 in Vilnius.
His marital status is married (vedęs).
He is married to Lina Vėgėlė and has three children.
He comes from a family of entrepreneurs that owns the "Vilpros grupė" company group, led by his father Algirdas Stasys Vėgėlė and brother Martynas Vėgėlė.
In 2020, he enrolled in an Executive MBA program at the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, but did not complete it.
In 2007, he completed a habilitation procedure at Mykolas Romeris University.
He earned a Doctor of Law degree in 2006 from the former Lithuanian Law Academy (now Mykolas Romeris University).
He pursued legal studies at Oxford University in 2002.
In 1999, he obtained a European Union lecturer’s diploma after completing an eight-stage training program (through the Carl Duisberg Society in Germany).
In 1998, he graduated from Vilnius University with a law degree (integrated studies).
He completed Vilnius Salomėja Nėris Secondary School in 1993, graduating with a Silver Medal (academic distinction).
From 2014 to 2022, he served as the Chairman of the Lithuanian Bar Association’s Council (Advokatų tarybos pirmininkas).
Aside from his legal practice, Vėgėlė has had business roles: he was a shareholder of the companies "Internetinė prekyba" and "Almigija" (until 2023) and previously served on the boards of several companies in his father’s "Vilpros grupė" business group.
He was a professor at Mykolas Romeris University from 2010 to 2024, and previously headed a department there (2006–2009).
He practiced as an attorney at the law firm "Ignas Vėgėlė ir partneriai", which he founded, from 2002 until 2024.
Early in his career, he worked as a lawyer at KPMG Lietuva (audit and consulting firm) from 1997 to 2002.
His first job after studies was as a legal assistant at the law firm "Foresta" in 1996–1997.
He has been a member of the Seimas (Parliament of Lithuania) since November 14, 2024, serving in the 2024–2028 term.
He is a member of the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union and Christian Families Alliance parliamentary group in the Seimas (since 14 November 2024).
He was vice-chairman of the Lithuanian Christian Democrats’ board from 2002 to 2004, and then its chairman from 2004 to 2006.
Earlier, he was active in Christian democratic politics: he was a member of the Christian Democratic Union from 1994 to 2001, and of the Lithuanian Christian Democrats from 2001 to 2007.
He is also a member of the Seimas Anti-Corruption Commission (joined on 2024-12-04).
On the same date (2024-12-04), he became a member of the Commission for the Cause of Freedom and the National Historical Memory.
Since November 21, 2024, he has been a member of the Seimas Committee on Legal Affairs.
On August 2, 2024, the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union (LVŽS) approved a joint candidate list with Ignas Vėgėlė for the 2024 Seimas elections.
In the first round of the 2024 Lithuanian presidential election (May 2024), Vėgėlė received 174,845 votes – about 12.37% of the total – finishing in third place (after Gitanas Nausėda and Ingrida Šimonytė).
He was a candidate in the 2024 Lithuanian presidential election and finished in third place in the first round.
In the 2024 Seimas elections Vėgėlė ran on a joint list with the Farmers and Greens Union (LVŽS) as the last candidate (No. 141). He attracted so many preferential (reitingavimo) votes that he jumped to second place on the list, securing a parliamentary seat via the multi-member constituency (he did not run in a single-member district).
He first ran for the Seimas in the 2000 parliamentary elections with the Christian Democratic Union, but the party narrowly failed to enter parliament (missing about 0.5% of the vote).
As a member of the Seimas (since 2024), Vėgėlė receives an MP’s salary of roughly €3.8 thousand per month (gross).
In his 2023 asset declaration, Vėgėlė listed about €1.582 million in registrable assets, €256,000 in cash savings, and roughly €221,000 in securities, art or jewelry holdings, with no liabilities reported.
Since Vėgėlė held no public office before late 2024, he had no official asset declarations prior to 2023. His first public declaration (filed during the 2024 campaign) showed roughly €1.58 million in registrable assets (with no debts) and revealed that he had lent out about €1.3 million to other persons.
For the tax year 2022, Vėgėlė declared approximately €169,000 in income (plus about €49,000 from self-employment) and paid around €17,778 in income tax.
During his tenure as a law professor at Mykolas Romeris University (2010–2024), his academic salary was relatively modest – around €1,180 per month before taxes as of 2017 (base pay for MRU professors), indicating that his main earnings came from legal practice.
He was a member of the Court of Honour of Advocates (a self-governing disciplinary body for lawyers) from 2022 to 2024.
Vėgėlė’s father, Algirdas Stasys Vėgėlė, serves as the CEO of the family’s company UAB "Vilpros grupė". This family-owned business group (heating equipment, trade and manufacturing) operates across the Baltics and had around €33 million in assets and over €70 million in annual revenue in 2022.
He also served on the Finance Committee of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) from 2020 to 2024.
He was a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague from 2017 to 2023.
He was the Head of the Lithuanian delegation to the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) from 2014 to 2022.
He served as the Chair (and earlier Vice-Chair) of the Lithuanian Lawyers’ Society from 2013 to 2022.
He has been a member of the Lithuanian Helsinki Group (a human rights organization) since 1998.
In September 2022, Justice Minister Ewelina Dobrowolska initiated a disciplinary case against Vėgėlė over his public remarks; in December 2023, the Advocates’ Court of Honor dismissed the case, finding no breach of professional ethics.
This 2021 speech sparked significant reactions: colleagues and politicians criticized Vėgėlė’s remarks as being made "not in the right place or time" and warned they could further divide society.
In August 2021, as the Bar Association chairman, he delivered a speech at the Lithuanian Advocates’ General Meeting where he criticized the World Health Organization, opposed the "Galimybių pasas" (COVID-19 health pass), and called lockdown restrictions a violation of human rights.
According to official declarations, he was the wealthiest among the 2024 presidential candidates, with declared assets of about €1.58 million in 2023.
He left active politics in 2007 after the Lithuanian Christian Democrats decided to merge into the Homeland Union (Conservatives), a move he strongly opposed.
He speaks English and Russian fluently, and has basic knowledge of French and German.