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“The audit showed that due to the lack of cost-benefit analysis and economically unreasonable decisions, possibly due to various interests, the value of the Strošiūnai tunnel construction project on the Vilnius – Kaunas road could have increased by approximately 3 million. euros. The tunnel, originally planned as an underground crossing, was not only raised 2 meters, but was also “overgrown” with connecting roads and roundabouts, although a two-level crossing is not possible here. Due to the possible damage to the State and the dubious benefit to the public, the audit material was handed over to the police authorities ”, says the Minister of Transport and Communications Marius Skuodis.
At the request of the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the Attorney General’s Office commissioned the Financial Crimes Investigation Service to evaluate the information provided and decide whether there were grounds to initiate a pre-trial investigation.
The decision to install the Strošiūnai tunnel (underground crossing) was made in 2017-2018, during the preparation of the technical project and after receiving requests from natural persons, residents of the Strošiūnai village near the road. In the initial version, the tunnel was planned for transport up to a height of 2.5 m, and the total width of the carriageway and path was 4 m. During the consideration of the design issues by the Lithuanian Highway Administration (LAKD), the decision was made to move the tunnel to another location and install it in larger dimensions, adapting it to agricultural machinery: 4.5 m of height and the same width.
The audit found that the change to the original project may have had an impact in 2018. Ask the manager of the go-kart track in Strošiūnai to install connecting roads. Later, not only connecting roads were designed, but two roundabouts were also designed on this site. This may have resulted in a violation of procurement procedures, as the initial design task required neither connecting roads nor roundabouts.
Furthermore, the installation of a two-level intersection at Strošiūnai violated the provision of the Technical Road Regulations that intersections must be installed at a distance of at least 5 km. The other closest intersections at different levels are 2.6 and 3.8 km apart.
Both during the design and during the execution of the contracts, changes were made that increased the value of these contracts. So far, up to 19 agreements (34 amendments) have been signed under the additional work contract, which for one reason or another has required changes in technical design solutions, raising doubts about the quality of their preparation.
The audit results establish that technical decisions on the resizing and relocation of the Strošiūnai tunnel and the installation of connecting roads with roundabouts have been made for the potential benefit of several people, without computational evidence of their need and cost effectiveness. and in default of the inefficient use of funds from the state budget, and about 3 million. The value of the investment higher than expected is considered a loss.
According to the contract, the value of the Strošiūnai tunnel installation together with the connecting roads is 5.2 million. of which for June 2021 the work carried out was documented by almost 5.1 million. euros.
The ministry expects law enforcement agencies to establish the real situation and assess whether all decision-makers have carried out their duties correctly and acted legally. To avoid similar situations in the future, the Ministry also required LAKD to conduct cost-benefit analyzes for all bridges, tunnels and viaducts planned and under construction from now on and make them public.
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