Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas has resigned, President Gitanas Nauseda announced.

According to Nauseda, the prime minister announced his resignation during a telephone conversation this morning.

Paluckas resigned also as chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania (LSDP). Nauseda explained that the party, which won the elections and has a majority in parliament, will now begin negotiations on forming a coalition government.

According to the Lithuanian constitution, the entire government resigns along with the prime minister, the Lithuanian Radio and Television (LRT) reminds. However, the president can instruct ministers to continue performing their duties until a new government is formed.

Questions have arisen about Gintautas Paluckas after a probe into the Dankora company, founded by his relative Virginija Paluckiene. Dankora had received a soft loan of 200,000 euros as part of a project to develop electric vehicle charging infrastructure in a village and purchased equipment from Garnis, a company 49% of whose shares belong to Paluckas himself. This happened when Paluckas was already serving as prime minister. Dankora, however, claims that they were not aware of Garnis’ shareholders.