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Mayor Remigijus Šimašius hopes that the Government will not change the previous decision and participate in the project of the national stadium complex in Vilnius if the Court of Appeal announces on Thursday that the Public Procurement Office (VPN) has unjustifiably suspended the stadium project.
“If the court determines that we are right, we go back to the fact that we have signed mutual commitments with the Government. We hope that the Government does not change that decision. Then we move on to the signing date (concession contract – BNS). As far as we know, the private partner is ready to realize this, ”stated R. Šimašius at the Seimas Budget and Finance Committee on Thursday.
“If not (the judicial decision will be unfavorable for the municipality – BNS), we will look for other ways,” he added.
The Court of Appeal is expected to issue a decision on Thursday in a dispute between the Public Procurement Office (VPN) and the Vilnius government for more than 150 million. EUR for a national stadium concession tender.
In November last year, the Vilnius Regional Court declared the VPT’s order to end the national stadium competition illegal. In December, the VPT rejected the municipality’s offer to reach an amicable settlement and appealed the sentence to the Court of Appeal.
The VPT ruled in March last year that the project did not meet the characteristics of a concession and therefore the concession was illegal. Therefore, the service did not allow the municipality to sign a concession contract with Icor’s successful company, Axis Industries, and the financier of the Baltcap project.
Sonata Vaitukaitytė, Head of VPN’s Legal Department, says that the concession contract is not possible because there is no equivalent public-private partnership.
“We don’t see a concession because the public sector bears all the costs of financing the construction, we don’t see a partnership here,” he told the committee on Thursday.
Povilas Poderskis, the head of the Vilnius municipal administration, told the committee that the construction of the stadium would cost 39 million. euros, the stadium could be built in 2024 instead of 2023 as previously planned.
R. Šimašius stated that it would be possible to abandon the Sports Museum planned in the complex, which was planned with project funding and funding from the European Union.
MP Algirdas Butkevičius agreed that changes to the complex are possible, but its cultural purpose should not be affected.
“There is nothing stopping me from building a library on the site,” he said.
Vytautas Mitalas, a member of Freedom Faction and former Vilnius deputy mayor, said the complex’s chosen location is the best in Vilnius. It is planned near the Acropolis of Šeškinė.
It was reported that the complex with 15 thousand. construction of the stadium and other facilities should cost around 93 million. However, once the payments have been spread over 25 years, it is planned to pay almost € 156 million to the BaltCap fund. euros.
The government’s share, according to the draft contract, would have been approximately $ 54.5 million. 101.5 million euros, municipalities. euros.
In addition to the stadium, it is planned to build an athletics stadium, a sports complex with gymnastics, handball, volleyball, boxing, basketball courts, a community and cultural educational center with a library, a 300-seat kindergarten and a sports museum.
Author Sniegė Balčiūnaitė
