The inhabitants of the village of Pakaunė felt hostages of a wealthy neighbor

The culmination of the conflict was the felling of pines

Passion boils in a picturesque place, in the village of Smiltynai I, located in the Domeikava old town near the bank of the Neris.

The neighbors of the country house accuse the businessman who lives on the same street, who manages large tracts of land, of self-purification, profit and destruction of nature.

According to the neighbors, their neighbor, having bought a nearby land, offered to buy the land, expand their borders and, if they did not agree, they took terror.

He reportedly threatened to build open-air toilets that spread odors in his area, as well as under construction near his home, causing heavy machinery to destroy the common road and damage the pavement.

The conflict culminated on March 23, when a businessman armed with a saw began cutting down pine trees that grew 12 years ago on the edge of a hut plot. One of the residents of the apartment building, a doctor working in Jonava, attacked to defend them.

“What did those trees get in your way? Why the pine trees that had grown for so many years had to be so drastically destroyed, after all, it is a crime against nature ”, people were outraged by the neighbor’s behavior.

Did the doctor attack with a machete, did the businessman defend himself with a chainsaw?

The businessman who cut down the trees told a journalist from the Delfi portal that he had the right to do so because the pines grew on his land.

The man said he had his own plans here, the implementation of which was hampered by the trees, so he decided to remove them.

In fact, when visiting the site of the conflict, it became clear that the felled trees grew at least 10 centimeters outside the boundaries of the plots owned by the residents of the hut, formally entering the territory of the plot bought by the neighbor. This fact was also established by the employees of the Public Order Division of the Kaunas District Municipality who inspected the landmarks.

The businessman who cut the pine on the purchased plot said that while working with a chainsaw, he was attacked with a machete by one of the residents of the cabin, a well-known doctor. Only thanks to the quick reaction we managed to defend ourselves with a saw …

After contacting said neighbor, he categorically denied having attacked a neighbor with a machete and presented his version. The businessman himself, threatening him with a chainsaw, kept him in a foreign territory that had entered a dangerous distance.

Odeta Vaitkevičienė, spokesperson for the Kaunas County Police Chief Commissariat, confirmed to the Delfi website that there was indeed a conflict.

“Two reports were received in Kaunas district, Smiltynai I village. 2 pm 53 min. A report has been received that strangers are cutting down trees. The second message was received at 3 pm 10 minutes ago, that 15 minutes ago, while cutting down its trees, a neighbor came to threaten and insult.

Two statements were received. In both cases, the clarification of the circumstances has begun at the Kaunas District Police Station, ”said the police representative.

He also disagrees along the way.

The fact that the conflicts between a large landowner, a businessman who owns about 12 hectares, who lives in his own house, and his neighbors in a cabin on the same street have become extremely deep, is testimony to the mutual reproaches of the road used by everything.

The neighbors of the cabin claim that a neighbor who builds a new house next to theirs is destroying the road built by everyone: the rolling trucks are damaging the pavement and blocks, breaking tree branches, endangering the children.

People admitted to guarding the road for trucks, preventing them from passing. This was also confirmed by the businessman himself, who delivered a video in which one of the neighbors is seen blocking the road with a car.

“It is a shared road, it is an easement, I have the right to enter my plot,” argued the man in conflict with his neighbors.

After summoning employees of the Kaunas District Municipality Public Order Department, he demanded that it be established that construction machinery, which had become the subject of another conflict, was hampered by trees growing nearby. Its branches are said to damage heavy cars.

However, this argument was rejected;

The businessman was also accused of arbitrarily blocking the passage of residents to the park by placing fences, so to enter it is necessary to go around the ring roads. After contacting the elderly woman from Domeikava, Lina Mišeikienė, she confirmed that she was aware of the conflict situations, and was informed by the National Land Service that this man still had the right to build barriers in the territory under his control.

The real cause of the conflict: the desire to profit?

Why did the businessman who managed about 12 hectares of land in an attractive location in the Kaunas district hasten to destroy the trees that grew next to the neighborhood cabin? Why is there a requirement to remove ornamental plants planted by cabin residents and other items that had “entered” their forest land?

On the one hand, the owner of the territory has that right, which was confirmed by the representatives of the Kaunas District Municipality who assessed the situation in the place, but there may be other reasons.

Residents of the cabin said the businessman who became the owner of the nearby land took no such action at first. He offered the neighbors to expand the boundaries of their parcels, buy or rent the forest land that he had bought, and when he rejected this offer, he mentioned plans that did not promise anything good to the neighbors.

“He said he would build open-air toilets along our border,” said a resident of the cabin, though it was later revealed that it was just a figuratively paraphrased “offer” from a neighbor.

Delphi’s letter to the neighbors also attests to the fact that an attempt was made to sell or lease the forest land that became the property of the residents of the nearby hut.

He proposes to pay 3,000 for 1 acre of forest land. 750 euros (5,625 euros for a 1.5 acre plot). The letter indicates that if this offer is rejected as of March 1, 2021, the price will already be 7 thousand. per 1 acre, will change annually depending on inflation

In the same letter, the neighbors received an offer from a neighbor not to buy but to rent the land they had acquired. The price is 33 euros per 1 acre during the “agreed period”, but as of March 1 of this year the rental price increases to 50 euros per 1 acre.

The most interesting thing about this letter to the neighbors are the conditions that are set if they do not agree to buy or rent the land and continue using it, according to the author, “so as not to use it for anything that is unacceptable”.

It is mentioned here that the Public Order Service (which was made – ed.) Will be applied for the removal of trees, vegetation and buildings at a distance of 3 meters from the boundary of the plot.

The author of the letter also promised that a 2 meter high wire fence will be built 5 cm from the boundary of the plot, behind which there will be a lot “where accessories for future constructions, adjacent stables or deer slaughterhouses can be stored. “.

He assures the neighbors that he has not “screwed up”, but has only informed of possible plans.

The businessman himself did not deny the authenticity of this letter, but assured that there was more than one correspondence, so it seemed taken out of the general context.

He said he wanted the residents of the nearby cabin to do well so they could expand the boundaries of the land they owned and use it legally. When asked about neighbors’ comments that he wanted to get a “space” price for the nearby land, the man mentioned that he was only looking for a real market price …

The fact that the businessman who did not agree to his conditions actually offered to aggravate the situation to the neighbors was also heard by the representatives of the Kaunas district municipality. In front of them, the man told the neighbors that he would cut down the forest outside the limits of their plots, it would be logging …

The businessman, who was in conflict with his neighbors, told the Delfi portal that he had only informed people who lived nearby what his plans would be on the acquired land and offered to buy or rent it in good faith so that it would not be. . accused of arbitrariness after …

He categorically disagreed with the claims of neighbors that, in his opinion, this tactic was similar to extortion or blackmail and promised to defend their rights in court.