Albertas Šimėnas

Albertas Šimėnas (born February 17, 1950 in Papiliai) was Prime Minister of Lithuania for 3 days, from January 10 to January 13, 1991. He disappeared during the January Events and was replaced by Gediminas Vagnorius.

Šimėnas graduated from the Vilnius University in 1972 with a degree in economics. He lectured at the Vilnius Gediminas Technical University from 1984 to 1989.^[1] He joined activities of Sąjūdis movement and was elected to the Supreme Council – Reconstituent Seimas. On March 11, 1990 he signed the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania, declaring Lithuania's independence from the Soviet Union. In January 1991, when the first government led by Kazimira Prunskienė resigned due to rising prices, Šimėnas became the Prime Minister of a largely unchanged government.^[2] However, as the Soviet Army entered Vilnius and surrounded key buildings, Šimėnas disappeared. In an emergency session, Gediminas Vagnorius took over his cabinet and became the Prime Minister. Šimėnas suddenly reappeared on January 14.^[3] He joined Vagnorius' government as the Minister of Economy on May 30, 1991 and served until the government resigned on July 21, 1992.^[4] In 1994, he joined the Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party and was elected to the Seventh Seimas in 1996.^[1] He ran unsuccessfully in the 2004 Seimas and European Parliament elections, after which he joined the private sector.

Šimėnas published several academic papers on economy and a monograph about economic reforms in Lithuania from 1990 to 1994.

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