Šarūnas Birutis

Šarūnas Birutis
Minister of Culture
In office 13 December 2012 – 13 December 2016
Prime Minister	Algirdas Butkevičius
Preceded by	Arūnas Gelūnas
Succeeded by	Liana Ruokytė Jonsson
Member of Seimas for Ignalina - Švenčionys
In office 16 November 2012 – 14 November 2016
Preceded by	Konstantas Ramelis
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Member of European Parliament for Lithuania
In office 2004–2009
Personal details
Born	(1961-09-20) 20 September 1961 Šiauliai, Lithuania
Political party	Labour Party

Šarūnas Birutis (born September 20, 1961 in Šiauliai) is a Lithuanian politician. He was a member of the European Parliament for the Labour Party from 2004 to 2009. In the parliament he joined the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.

Biography

He received bachelor's degree in economics from Vilnius University in 1984 and master's degree in law from Mykolas Romeris University in 2003. After Lithuania's independence in 1990, Birutis worked establishing and developing tourist industry. In 1999 he joined the Ministry of the Economy as adviser for small and middle businesses. He was a member of the team, negotiating Lithuania's membership in the European Union. In 2004, he was elected to the European Parliament, where he joined the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy and Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection. Birutis ran again in 2009, but Labour Party gained only one seat which went to Viktor Uspaskich, leader and founder of the party.