Irena Degutienė

Irena Degutienė (born 1 June 1949) is a Lithuanian politician and member of the conservative Homeland Union. She is currently the Deputy Speaker of Seimas, and was twice the acting Prime Minister of Lithuania, first from 4 May 1999 to 18 May 1999 and then from 27 October 1999 to 3 November 1999. She has also been the Speaker of Seimas from 15 September 2009 to 14 September 2012, as well as Minister for Social Security and Labour from 1996 to 2000. In 1978, she graduated from Vilnius University with a degree in medicine. For almost twenty years, she worked in Vilnius Red Cross Hospital before becoming a secretary in the Ministry of Health in 1994. She was initially elected to Seimas in 1996. Degutienė is the first woman to be Speaker of Seimas in Lithuania's history.^[1]

Irena Degutienė
Degutienė in 2012
Deputy Speaker of the Seimas
In office 16 November 2012 – 13 November 2020
Speaker of the Seimas
In office 17 September 2009 – 14 September 2012
Preceded by	Arūnas Valinskas
Succeeded by	Vydas Gedvilas
First Deputy Speaker of the Seimas
In office 20 November 2008 – 16 September 2009
Preceded by	Algis Čaplikas
Succeeded by	Raimondas Šukys
Prime Minister of Lithuania Acting
In office 27 October 1999 – 3 November 1999
President	Valdas Adamkus
Preceded by	Rolandas Paksas
Succeeded by	Andrius Kubilius
In office 4 May 1999 – 18 May 1999
President	Valdas Adamkus
Preceded by	Gediminas Vagnorius
Succeeded by	Rolandas Paksas
Minister for Social Security and Labour
In office 4 December 1996 – 27 October 2000
Prime Minister	Gediminas Vagnorius
Preceded by	Mindaugas Mikaila
Succeeded by	Vilija Blinkevičiūtė
Member of Seimas
In office 14 November 2016 – 13 November 2020
Constituency	Multi-member
In office 15 November 2004 – 14 November 2016
Preceded by	Vytautas Kvietkauskas
Succeeded by	Žygimantas Pavilionis
Constituency	Naujamiestis
In office 25 November 1996 – 14 November 2004
Constituency	Multi-member
Personal details
Born	(1949-06-01)1 June 1949 Šiauliai, Lithuania
Political party	Homeland Union
Spouse	Gediminas Degutis
Alma mater	Vilnius University

MG Baltic bribery scandal

In 2017, Eligijus Masiulis 250-thousand-euro bribery scandal^[2] sparked one of the largest corruption investigations in Lithuania's history.^[3] Secret surveillance by VSD revealed that MG Baltic, a Lithuanian conglomerate,^[4] has been exerting influence and systematically bribing prosecutors, politicians and government bureaucrats.^[5][6][7] Irena Degutienė is implicated in the corruption scandal – MG Baltic preferred and favoured her nomination as head of her political party.^[8]

Honours

National honours

• Lithuania Grand Cross of the Order of Vytautas the Great (6 July 2019)^[9]