Virginijus Sinkevičius

Virginijus Sinkevičius (born 4 November 1990) is a Lithuanian politician, a European Commissioner since 2019. He has been a Member of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania and Minister of the Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Lithuania.

Virginijus Sinkevičius
European Commissioner for the Environment & Oceans and Fisheries
Assumed office
1 December 2019
PresidentUrsula von der Leyen
Preceded byKarmenu Vella
Minister of the Economy and Innovation of Lithuania
In office
27 November 2017 – 30 November 2019
Prime MinisterSaulius Skvernelis
Preceded byMindaugas Sinkevičius
Succeeded byŽygimantas Vaičiūnas (acting)
Rimantas Sinkevičius
Member of the Seimas
In office
14 November 2016 – 28 November 2019
Preceded byAudronius Ažubalis
Succeeded byMindaugas Lingė (2020)
ConstituencyŠeškinė
Personal details
Born (1990-11-04) 4 November 1990
Vilnius, Lithuania
Political partyFarmers and Greens Union
EducationAberystwyth University
Maastricht University

Biography

In 2009, Virginijus Sinkevičius graduated from Salomėja Nėris Gymnasium of Vilnius, Lithuania, where he was born. He then pursued his undergraduate studies in Aberystwyth University (UK) from where he received a Bachelor of Economic and Social Studies degree in 2012.

In 2012, Virginijus Sinkevičius was a trainee in the Unit of Regional and Ethnic Affairs at the Office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania. In 2013, he received a Master of Arts in European Studies from Maastricht University (the Netherlands).

In 2012–2015, he was an author and editor of the news portal Lithuania Tribune.

In 2013–2014, Virginijus Sinkevičius served as an assistant project manager at the Centre for European Policy Analysis in Washington DC, US.

In 2014, he was an international group project manager in AB Lietuvos Paštas; in 2014–2015, he participated in the ‘Create Lithuania’ program. In 2015–2016, he was the project coordinator in the concession project of the Lithuanian Airports. In 2016, he was a team leader of the Group for Improving the Investment Environment in Public Enterprise Invest Lithuania.

In 2017, he completed Digital Policy course in University of Oxford.

Virginijus Sinkevičius speaks Lithuanian as mother tongue, as well as English, Russian and Polish.[1]

Political career

In 2016, he was elected to the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania in the single-member Šeškinė constituency in Vilnius; he was then appointed Chair of the Committee on Economics; on 27 November 2017, he was appointed Minister of Economy of the Republic of Lithuania and, following the reorganization of the Ministry of Economy, he became Minister of the Economy and Innovation.[2] On 22 August 2019, the Lithuanian parliament approved his nomination for European commissioner.[3]

Achievements and awards

In 2018, he was awarded for The Best Solution for Better Business Environment of the Year by the association Investors’ Forum, and Blockchain Leadership at #SWITCH! Tech Awards. In 2019, he received the Partnership Leader 2018 award for innovation reform and development of startup ecosystem from the organisation Lithuanian Business Confederation. In 2018, Sinkevičius was included in the list of 100 World’s Most Influential Young People in Government by the website Apolitical.[2]

References
  1. "Virginijus Sinkevičius". Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas (in Lithuanian).
  2. "Virginijus Sinkevičius". Lietuvos Respublikos ekonomikos ir inovacijų ministerija (in Lithuanian). Archived from the original on 16 September 2019.
  3. Saulius Jakučionis (22 August 2019). "Lithuanian parliament approves nomination of Economy Minister Sinkevičius to European Commission". Lithuanian National Radio and Television.
Political offices
Preceded by
Vytenis Andriukaitis		 Lithuanian European Commissioner
2019–present		 Incumbent
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