Virginijus Sinkevičius


Virginijus Sinkevičius is a European Commissioner from Lithuania and was a Member of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania and Minister of the Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Lithuania.

Biography

In 2009, Virginijus Sinkevičius graduated from Salomėja Nėris Gymnasium. He then pursued his undergraduate studies in Aberystwyth University 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.
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.
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 a mother tongue, as well as English, Russian and Polish.

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. On 22 August 2019, The Lithuanian parliament approved his nomination for European commissioner.

Achievements and Awards

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