Deputy chairman of the Liberal Union Arturas Zuokas has replaced his party boss Rolandas Paksas as Vilnius mayor.

Deputy chairman of the Liberal Union Arturas Zuokas has replaced his party boss Rolandas Paksas as Vilnius mayor. The 51-member Vilnius City Council voted 27-18 on Nov. 15 to elect Zuokas. Paksas resigned after becoming Lithuania's prime minister last month as the head of a Liberal Union/New Union (Social Liberals) coalition. The 32-year-old Zuokas' rise has been fast. Between 1990 and 1994 he earned danger money as a journalist reporting for British and American television networks from Caucasian hotspots like Chechnya, Ngorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia and Osetia, and was a war correspondent in Iran and Iraq. In 1992, he established BNA Group in Vilnius, a company that became an umbrella for a number of highly successful business activities in the capital. A chain of United Colors of Benetton shops and a McDonald's restaurant were opened in the mid-90s after BNA signed contracts with these companies. Zuokas also owns plenty of Vilnius real estate. Zuokas became a member of Vilnius City Council and chairman of its Urban Services Committee at the same time Paksas was re-elected mayor after the municipal elections held in March 2000. In the run-up to October's parliamentary elections, Zuokas headed the Liberals' electoral staff, but did not stand for election himself. Zuokas is one of the most enthusiastic proponents of free trade in the Liberal Union, which is quickly making it known that it advocates a relaxation in all aspects of state control over business activities in Lithuania. Bolder and more dynamic than his predecessor, his main aim is to change the economic infrastructure in the capital. State enterprises run by the municipality of Vilnius, such as the heating and water supply companies Vilnius Silumos Tinklai and Vilniaus Vandenys, and the capital's cash-starved transport system are expected to be privatized.