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The government decided this week that restaurants, cafes and bars will be able to resume operations starting Thursday, April 22.
However, given the uncertainty about the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, this business can only be opened with significant limitations.
Food and drinks will only be available to people outdoors; catering will be available from 7 am to 9 pm No more than two people will be seated at a table unless they are from the same household.
Cafes in Lithuania have been closed since the beginning of November last year, when the quarantine was reintroduced in Lithuania due to the second wave of COVID-19. They can only feed.
Photo by Sigismund Gedvila / 15min / Take away
Therefore, the partial opening is undoubtedly rewarding, although it will serve to reduce tension rather than make money, said Evalda Šiškauskienė, director of the Lithuanian Hotel and Restaurant Association.
Opinions are less clear among the restaurants themselves.
Hurry to buy heaters
The co-owner and director of the House Restaurant in Marijampolė, Rytis Morozovas, is accompanied by euphoria.
I bring everyone back from partial downtime and am glad they managed to keep them through the toughest times.
According to him, throughout the quarantine, the institution provided take-out food, the number of orders was increased by the Bolt Food platform, which was recently launched in the capital of Suwalki, and the current opportunity to serve in an outdoor cafe will continue. increasing. the workload.
“Now that the quarantine is released, we will finally be working a full schedule, and that gradual increase in work has really helped. I bring everyone back from partial downtime and I’m glad they all managed to keep them through the toughest times. ” 15 minutes Morozov said.
“Wow, I’m in the store right now, picking out new heaters just to keep people comfortable this cold spring. Now I see who can bring here on Wednesday, “he added.
Photo by Sigismund Gedvila / 15min / Vilnius after quarantine conditions have eased
Although the government has decided to limit the opening hours of the outdoor cafes, this is almost irrelevant for the House Restaurant, as it generally closes at 9 pm on weekdays and works more on Fridays and Saturdays.
Although the restaurant, which has five tables outside, will be able to accommodate ten customers as required by the authorities, twice the usual, it does not survive long.
R. Morozov believes that the pace of COVID-19 vaccination in Lithuania will allow to ease trade restrictions soon.
“I am following Israel’s example very closely and I have seen it when 40% were vaccinated. population, cafes could also operate indoors. I hope that in May we will also achieve this in Lithuania, ”said the businessman.
Reuters / Photo by Scanpix / In Israel, people even get vaccinated in bars
He said the restaurant’s menu would have to be redesigned before it opened as it was now more modest due to the quarantine, and COVID-19 would require staff to be tested.
It is not the last place to work and motivate people to work again.
“A person quickly gets used to working well, but receiving compensation,” laughed Morozov.
It won’t even open
The mood of Sigitas Mačiulis, the manager of the Punto Jazz jazz bar, located in Kaunas, is radically opposite.
Those few tables won’t even cover the additional waiter salary.
“What’s good about here? It doesn’t work humanly, that’s all. ” 15 minutes said the businessman.
According to him, the bar could have two or three tables outside, and for so many customers it is not even worth opening.
“People didn’t even sit there, they just went out to smoke. We will wait until we let you work inside, ”said the director of the company that runs the bar, Pas Gertrūdas.
“Those few tables will not even cover the extra salary of the waiter. There are also 30 liters in the beer tank, you have to sell them, and if I sell only two or three glasses, the remaining beer will ferment,” he said.
Photo by Marius Vizbaras / Punto Jazz Concert
Today, the most disappointing thing, according to S.Mačiulis, is that he cannot even predict the continuity of activities. The government is not responding to which epidemiological indicators the cafes will be allowed to operate internally
He will have many problems, according to him, to recover the marching equipment.
“It is no secret that people are brutally trapped, unwilling to work, receive benefits and stay home. It will be extremely difficult,” said S. Maciulis.
“Another thing is that if that opening is limited by space per client, then it will be better not to work either. We have a large area – we manage it, but if we can’t do anything by looking at ourselves, ”said the businessman.
It becomes synoptic
Saulius Galdikas, the owner of several cafes and bars in Vilnius, says that although it feels ambiguous, permission to work outdoors is the first relatively good news since the start of the quarantine, especially since many tables are already reserved for the end. in the next week.
Sigismund Gedvila / 15min photo / Saulius Galdikas
On the other hand, many bars are severely affected by restrictions on opening hours.
“With a good understanding that the bars start operating from 5 or 6 in the afternoon, it will be possible to work 3 or 4 hours a day.” 15 minutes said the owner of the bar.
“We do not see any argument whatsoever regarding the limitation of working hours, no one provides evidence that this is related to serious diseases,” he said.
Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė this week motivated the decision to limit working hours due to the fact that alcohol consumed in cafes or bars increases the risk of unsafe contacts.
In fact, we have canceled it this year. They will be tears compared to what it used to be.
“These are more emotional and moralizing arguments. “They disagree with what this government has declared, because it said it would be guided by facts, evidence and clear scientific research,” lamented Galdik.
He also assured that by allowing only outdoor work, bar owners would have to become weather forecasters.
“If it shows +10 degrees and it rains in the afternoon, we probably won’t open at night. If it shows +15 and the sun, it will be different. Unfortunately, this is our spring,” said the manager of Piano Man and other bars in Vilnius.
According to him, all of this means that the decisions of much of the catering business to continue opening in the field are determined by more emotions than the actual opportunities to continue operating normally and win.
Julius Kalinskas / 15 min photo / bar “Piano Man”
“When times were normal, we knew what business volume satisfied us and what we considered deficient. Of course, now we have forgotten about that rotation and we are guided by emotional things, how to maintain the business itself, hoping that one day we can return to normality, how to keep employees, ”said S. Galdikas.
“It just came to our attention then. They will be tears compared to how it used to be.”
There will be no surprises
During the Government meeting, during which it was decided to allow the opening of outdoor cafes, the Minister of Economy and Innovation Aušrinė Armonaitė recognized that the decision to limit working hours is not entirely suitable for business.
We understand that this is an imperfect solution, but it is still necessary.
According to the minister, the government should review this restriction weekly and extend it as the epidemiological situation and vaccination rates improve.
“We understand that this is an imperfect solution, but it is still necessary to release activities, but we also see growing (diseases – 15 minutes) and people in difficult situations in hospitals, ”said A. Armonaitė.
However, Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė urged not to rush with such statements.
“It is not necessary to indicate these changes when nothing has gone into effect yet. First of all, we have to see that the plan really works, “said the Prime Minister.
Arno Strumila / 15min photo / Ministerial meeting in the Government of the Republic of Lithuania
According to her, the most detailed conclusions will be available from May 3, when the latest liberalizations of several businesses planned by the Government come into force, and the use of the immunity passport will gradually recover.
“Here is the discussion (about the trading conditions – 15 minutes) will not end until the end of the quarantine, but now let’s create a predictable environment for at least the next two weeks, so that no one expects big surprises in one direction or the other, ”said I. Šimonytė.
Boiled oatmeal
Earlier, we announced that the opening of some outdoor cafes in Vilnius was accompanied by other problems.
From the beginning of March, the owners of cafes, bars or restaurants in Vilnius could ask the municipality for specific places indicated by him, where outdoor cafes could be located.
After the selection results were announced in April, it became clear that some of the cafes did not get a place outside in their usual locations, for example, Špunka operating in Užupis.
Photo by Julius Kalinskas / 15min / Bar “Špunka”
After the reaction of the municipality, the bar was finally reserved for outdoor trading the same day.
“We have clarified our decisions. Three or four cafes have faced a similar situation, but now there is room for everyone.” 15 minutes said Julius Morkūnas, head of the municipality’s Department of Licensing and Permits.
According to him, it was not possible to predict such misunderstandings during the selection process, because this year the places for outdoor cafes were divided according to a new automated system.
Photo by Vidmantas Balkūnas / 15min / Julius Morkūnas
“When we saw what was really going on, we had to make quick decisions. We will clarify this procedure in the future, we will introduce additional criteria, because the political will is to get as many coffees as possible in the field ”, said the specialist.
The main criteria that increase the possibility that a catering establishment has a place in the open air in the spaces determined by the municipality are the short distance from the stationary cafe and its own size.
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