Vilius Semeška

Born on 2 May 1972 in Druskininkai, Lithuania.

Married, with one son and two daughters.

Obtained a Master’s degree in Economics from Vilnius University in 2012.

Earned a Bachelor’s degree in Economics at Vilnius University (completed in 2010).

Graduated from the Vilnius Higher School of Economics, specializing in banking, in 1998.

Worked at the Seimas Chancellery in 2020 as a faction referent (advisor to the parliamentary group).

Was director of private company UAB “ViLO” from 2005 to 2017.

Held management roles with Lidl’s Baltic operations – serving as director and board member in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia during 2002–2004.

In the 1990s he managed companies including UAB “Gretsch-Unitas Baltic” (director and board member, 1997–2000) and his own firm “Baltijos profiliai” (1993–1997).

Served as a Member of the Seimas from 10 March 2023 until 14 November 2024.

Became a Member of the Seimas on 10 March 2023, filling a TS-LKD list seat vacated by Kristijonas Bartoševičius’s resignation.

Appointed Vice-Minister of National Defence, serving in that role during 2021–2022.

Served as a member of Lithuania’s Central Electoral Commission (Vyriausioji rinkimų komisija) from 2017 to 2020.

Served as a Druskininkai Municipal Council member during the 2015–2019 term.

Began his political career as a member of the Druskininkai Municipal Council.

Serves as a member of the Homeland Union–Lithuanian Christian Democrats (TS-LKD) party Council and its Supervisory Committee.

Served on the Seimas Anti-Corruption Commission (Mar 2023 – Nov 2024) and later on the Youth and Sports Affairs Commission (from April 2024).

Served as a member of the Seimas Committee on Legal Affairs from March 2023 to November 2024.

In the 2024 parliamentary elections, he again ran in Lazdijų–Druskininkų single-member district but finished third in the first round (behind LSDP’s Kristina Miškinienė and LVŽS’s Zenonas Streikus), failing to advance to the runoff or secure re-election.

Ran for re-election in the 2024 parliamentary elections but was not returned to the Seimas.

Although he failed to win a single-member seat in 2020, Semeška received enough pirmumo (preferential) votes on the TS-LKD national list to be the next-in-line candidate – allowing him to enter the Seimas in March 2023 after an incumbent’s resignation.

In the 2020 Seimas elections, Semeška ran in the single-member Jotvingių constituency (Lazdijai–Druskininkai), placing second in the first round with 3,055 votes (18.8%) before losing in the runoff to LVŽS candidate Zenonas Streikus.

Ran as a TS-LKD candidate in the 2020 parliamentary elections and was elected via the party’s list (proportional representation).

Stood as a TS-LKD candidate in the 2016 parliamentary elections, but did not win a seat.

As of 2023, the base salary for a rank-and-file Seimas member was approximately €3,800 per month after taxes (raised from ~€2,100 in prior years). Semeška publicly remarked that “indeed, one would like more,” expressing that even this increased parliamentary pay felt insufficient to him.

After leaving the ministry, he joined the board of the newly formed company “Lithuania Defense Services,” taking charge of its sales and marketing.

Through his firm UAB “ViLO”, Semeška invested heavily in real estate. Shortly after ViLO’s founding in 2005, he purchased multiple high-value properties – including two 2-room apartments and one 1-room apartment in Vilnius’s Žvėrynas district for a combined ~LTL 621,000 – as well as other commercial premises in Vilnius.

Member of the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union (Šaulių sąjunga), serving in the Antanas Juozapavičius 1st Riflemen Brigade (Unit 103).

On 21 March 2024, Semeška admitted to accidentally casting a vote using fellow MP Vytautas Juozapaitis’s voting console during a Seimas plenary session, immediately apologizing for the error. The Seimas Ethics and Procedures Commission investigated and concluded that Semeška had not intentionally violated the Statute by this mistaken vote.

In March 2024, he was questioned by Lithuania’s Special Investigation Service (STT) as part of an inquiry into public procurement in the defense sector.

In June 2018, 45 members of the Seimas (primarily from the LVŽS-led majority) initiated a no-confidence motion to remove Semeška from the Central Electoral Commission (VRK), accusing him of misrepresenting his education and work history. They cited a prosecutor’s finding that Semeška had been admitted to a higher school in 1994 without a completed secondary education (violating the law). Semeška denied wrongdoing and decried the move as political harassment; ultimately the effort to oust him failed, as supporters of his removal did not secure the necessary 71 votes in Parliament.

In late 2018, the Seimas passed an amendment barring municipal council members from serving on the Central Electoral Commission. Because Semeška was a Druskininkai city councilor at the time, this law change effectively forced him to resign from his VRK position.

In 2018, a tax inspection report indicated that his real estate purchases in 2004–2010 (via UAB "ViLO") far exceeded his officially declared income, raising questions about possible undeclared wealth.

A 2011 tax audit (revealed in 2018) found that Semeška’s household spending dramatically outpaced declared income in the 2000s. For example, in 2005 his company acquired Vilnius real estate (commercial premises and 3 apartments in Žvėrynas) for ~LTL 621,000 while he declared only LTL 200,000 from a property sale that year. Overall, from 2004 to 2010 the family’s expenditures exceeded their official earnings by over LTL 1 million (≈€290k), suggesting use of undeclared funds.

In September 2020, questioned the transparency of Lithuania’s elections in a public commentary titled “Lietuvoje vyksta skaidrūs rinkimai. Ar tikrai?” (Are elections in Lithuania truly transparent?).

Certified as a PADI diving master and instructor, reflecting his professional diving expertise.