Sarūnas Birutis

Šarūnas Birutis (born September 20, 1961 in Šiauliai ) is a Lithuanian liberal politician and businessman . From 2004 Degutis was a member of the European Parliament for the Darbo partija (Workers' Party) and a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe . Until 2016 he was minister of education.

education and profession

After completing his school education at Julius Janonis High School in the municipality of Šiauliai in 1979, Birutis began studying for a degree at the Faculty of Industrial Economics at Vilnius University and graduated in 1984 with a Bachelor of Economics. In 2003, after studying law at Vilnius University, he also obtained a Master of Arts degree . Birutis also attended various advanced training courses for management, politics and public administration. He also completed an internship in Japan.

Birutis worked from 1982 to 1984 in the economic department of the Lietuvos nacionalinis dramos teatras . Between 1984 and 1986 Birutis worked in the economic and planning department of the Kaunas thermal power station, after which he was active in the organization, financing and management of the Communist Youth Center Committee of Kaunas and Lithuania from 1986 to 1991. From 1990 to 1999 Birutis worked in the private sector, was a consultant for joint-stock companies and founded and directed the Lithuanian Writers and Publishers Association. In addition, Birutis founded and managed the travel agency "Taika" and was active in stimulating tourism to Lithuania. Between 1994 and 1998 he was director of the GmbH “Monoturizmas”, managed the hotel “Nidos auksines kopos” and worked on various tourism projects. From 1999 to 2002 he was the head of the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Department in the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Lithuania. He was also a representative of the Lithuanian Association of Business Employers in Parliament and the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, advisor to the Prime Minister on business issues (2002-2003) and from 2003 to 2004, as the Prime Minister's representative, member of the State Supervisory Commission for Gambling .

politics

Birutis was a member of the Labor Party's Presidium in 2003 and chaired the Labor Party's Committee on Economy, Industry and Commerce. Since 2004 he has represented the Labor Party in the European Parliament. From 2012 to 2016 he was Minister of Culture.

Private

Birutis is married and has one daughter.

Web links

• Private homepage of Šarūnas Birutis (English)
• Entry on Šarūnas Birutis in the European Parliament 's database of deputies