Lithuania's food-safety chief refuses to resign amid food scandal

The chief of Lithuania's State Food and Veterinary Authority Jonas Milius has refused to resign from office amid a frozen food scandal, the country's Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius said on Thursday.

"I had a meeting with Milius today, he refused to resign," Butkevicius said according to local media.

The general prosecutor's office of Lithuania started a pre-trial investigation into the case in July in which Milius, director of the food safety authority, is suspected of abuse of office and forgery of documents.

It is suspected that the agency hid information about human health-threatening bacteria being found in frozen dumplings produced by Judex, a manufacturing company based in the Lithuanian city of Kaunas.

Milius, who has led the food agency since 2010, is currently on holiday until Aug. 23. He claims he did not break any rules, local website vz.lt reported.

The government will make its decision concerning Milius after legal conclusions on the issue are ready, which is expected at the beginning of next week, Butkevicius said.

The head of government said earlier that he no longer had confidence in Milius after reading a statement from the Special Investigation Service about corruption risks highlighted in the activities of the food agency.

Milius refused to step down despite political leaders urging him to do so, including Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite and ministers of health and social affairs.

"I consider the situation as very bad and think that he should have stepped down a long time ago," Grybauskaite said earlier this week in an interview with BNS news agency.

Available data raises suspicion that heads of the Judex company attempted to avoid penalties for occupational safety, packaging, labeling, hygiene and other violations.

It is suspected that the administration of the company sought to bribe specialists of the Lithuanian food agency and/or people who could influence them.

Source : XINHUA