Vytautas Sakalauskas was a Soviet

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 Lithuanian politician who was the last Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic before Lithuanian independence in 1990.

After graduation from Kaunas Polytechnic Institute

Kaunas University of Technology

- KTU :Kaunas University of Technology is one of the largest technical universities in the Baltic States.In Webometrics Ranking of World Universities 2010 KTU took the highest ratings among Lithuanian higher education institutions as having the web of best presence, visibility and accessibility...

 in 1957, Sakalauskas worked in engineering and transportation departments of various communist institutions until 1969. He joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

Communist Party of the Soviet Union

The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...

 in 1960. From 1969 to 1983, he was a member of the Vilnius

Vilnius

Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...

 branch of the Lithuanian Communist Party, becoming branch's first secretary in 1974. Sakalauskas was elected to the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union in 1974 and the Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR

Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR

The Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR was the supreme soviet of the Lithuanian SSR, one of the republics comprising the Soviet Union. The Supreme Soviet was established in August 1940 when the People's Seimas declared itself the provisional Supreme Soviet...

 in 1976. From 1985 to 1990, he was the Chairman of the Council of Ministers (equivalent to Prime Minister).

Sakalauskas was not re-elected to the Supreme Soviet in the parliamentary elections in 1990

Lithuanian parliamentary election, 1990

The Lithuanian legislative elections for 141 seats in the Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR were held in the Lithuanian SSR on 24 February with run-off elections on 4, 7, 8 and 10 March 1990. In six constituencies voter turnout was below required minimum, therefore a third round was held on...

 and largely retired from Lithuanian politics. He headed Soviet trade mission in Maputo

Maputo

Maputo, also known as Lourenço Marques, is the capital and largest city of Mozambique. It is known as the City of Acacias in reference to acacia trees commonly found along its avenues and the Pearl of the Indian Ocean. It was famous for the inscription "This is Portugal" on the walkway of its...

, Mozambique

Mozambique

Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...

. In preparation for the events of January 1991, KGB

KGB

The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...

 brought Sakalauskas to Moscow in an attempt to recruit him for the planned coup by the National Salvation Committee. Sakalauskas was offered to head the planned pro-Moscow government, but he refused and returned to Mozambique. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he returned to Lithuania and worked in private sector.

Reference