Changes await residents of apartment buildings: those who disobey will be fined

Reject gas cylinders

In the whirlwind of the coronavirus crisis, the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Lithuania announced that residents of some apartment buildings will have to say goodbye to gas bottles for cooking. As Delfi Būstas, Aurelija Vernickaitė, Advisor to the Minister of Energy explains, gas cylinders with alternative energy sources for cooking will be replaced only in those apartment buildings with three floors or more.

“This is because a large number of people can be affected by a disaster, and it is much more difficult to deal with the consequences of such accidents in apartment buildings”, emphasizes the interlocutor.

According to A. Vernickaitė, the use of diesel cylinders in apartment buildings is not safe and, according to statistics, every year an average of 4-5 accidents occur in apartment buildings due to the explosion of gas cylinders, the consequences of which they are painful.

According to data from the Fire Protection and Rescue Department (as of 07/29/2020), 377 fires occurred in apartment buildings, 433 fires in apartment buildings were extinguished during the same period last year, i. and. this year, fires in apartment buildings increased by 13 percent. less fires. Due to failure of gas, kerosene, gasoline equipment and appliances, 12 fires broke out this year, 6 of them in apartment buildings. During the same period last year, 15 fires broke out, 4 of them in apartment buildings.

Why do you want to give up gas cylinders in homes with three stories or more?

According to A. Vernickaitė, gas cylinders used in houses with three floors or more pose a threat not only to the owner of the apartment, but also to the entire apartment building and the surrounding residents.

“It should be noted that even a small concentration of escaping gas can cause an explosion and suffocation. By assessing this situation, decisions have been made to solve a problem entrenched for decades and help the population move from unsafe gas cylinders to types of much safer energy, electricity or natural gas ”, assures the interlocutor.

There are an estimated 1,600 apartment buildings in Lithuania where gas cylinders are used. Their list is published on the page of the State Energy Regulatory Council (VERT) HERE.

“So, first of all, you need to see if your apartment building is on this list. We would like to draw your attention to the fact that VERT may adjust it when receiving information about a non-listed apartment building that uses cylinders. LPG for cooking and does not supply liquefied petroleum gas centrally for food production, ”explains A. Vernickaitė.

The state will pay compensation

Replacement of gas cylinders in apartment buildings must be funded by the state. According to the Ministry of Energy, the state will provide aid of up to 600 euros per apartment.

State subsidies for the choice of electricity: subsidy of up to 200 euros (without VAT) for the reconstruction of the electrical installation of stairs, up to 200 euros (without VAT) of subsidy for the installation of an installation in the apartment of a resident and up to 200 euros (without VAT) of subsidy for the purchase of an electric stove. A similar state subsidy would be for the choice of natural gas: up to EUR 200 (excluding VAT) for the installation of a gas distribution network in the stairwell, up to EUR 200 (excluding VAT) for the installation of a gas pipeline in the apartment and up to 200 EUR (excluding VAT) for a gas stove.

The request for state support must be sent to ESO and must be made by the apartment building manager or the community, so according to A. Vernickaitė, the goal is to ensure that decisions are made more quickly and efficiently, to so residents don’t have to deal with renovations, fill out applications, etc.

According to ESO, the multiple apartment manager (the person authorized by the house, the apartment house owners’ association or the manager) must take a public vote on participation in the project and the choice of another form of safe energy. Residents vote to decide what they want to switch to gas cylinders: electricity or gas from the gas inlet. The administrator must notify ESO of the decision made by the residents by filling in the application on the company’s website.

But the work does not end here. The administrator must prepare a budget for the conversion of the internal networks of the house (including the purchase of stoves) and submit a request to ESO for the disposal of LPG cylinders and the required electricity or gas demand. After the responsible authorities accept the request and reserve the funds, the administrator (your contractor) carries out work on the stairs and apartments: maintenance of the internal electricity or gas network, extraction of cylinders, ESO manages the distribution networks at the House. And then the house manager presents the costs incurred to the ESO, which must be reimbursed (infrastructure development, stove costs, etc.). Therefore, gas cylinders should be removed from the list of apartment buildings by 2022.

Will residents have to pay immediately?

However, there is a very vague point in the compensation procedure: do residents have to pay for gas cylinder replacement first and only then will they receive compensation, or can it be awarded before residents have spent a penny?

According to the Lithuanian Energy Agency, project costs can be reimbursed: by reimbursing costs already incurred or by paying bills, when the project promoter declares costs incurred but not yet paid. In this case, the promoter must pay the funds to the contractor, service provider or supplier within 5 business days of their receipt and will directly notify the Agency of the reimbursement of the costs incurred.

The project executors are: the distribution network operator carries out the design and construction works up to the property of the house, and a representative of the apartment building (president, administrator, etc.) carries out the installation and / or conversion of internal network (including departments) and replace stoves.

See gaps in implementation

However, until now, as the representative of the Ministry of Energy A. Vernickaitė points out, there are problems due to the disagreements of the population who need to change gas cylinders.

“After announcing the availability of support, we received calls from residents saying that the administrator or community leader was refusing to apply and address this sensitive issue. We want to urge all parties to act responsibly, because without the support of the state now, everything will have to be financed with our own funds later on.

Residents can also apply to the municipalities of their city or district ”, emphasizes A. Vernickaitė and adds that the Code of Administrative Offenses stipulates that the installation of energy equipment (electricity, heat, natural gas or liquefied petroleum, oil or products oil), non-compliance with operational and safety regulations entails a warning or fine of between sixty and one hundred forty euros and a warning or fine of two hundred to four hundred and forty euros for heads of legal entities or other responsible persons.

Meanwhile, the president of the Lithuanian Housing Chamber, Daiva Matonienė, emphasizes that replacing gas cylinders is a much-needed initiative, but the Ministry of Energy, according to her, has not given much thought to the practical implementation of such an idea.

“The very idea of ​​replacing gas cylinders is very good, it is necessary, but one of our main observations is that we would still propose to appoint a manager for the implementation. In other words, the municipality would appoint an administrator to implement it. We see that there may be problems, because the administrators or associations that perform the functions under the joint activity agreement may not be able to implement this specific project, ”says D. Matonienė.

According to the president of the Lithuanian Chamber of Housing, another relevant issue for the organization is the deadlines for the implementation of the gas cylinder project. According to D. Matonienė, the deadlines are too short.

“Speaking with the presidents of the community, knowing that it is summer, we see that the deadlines are too short. Also, as we look at the description, the concepts need to be explained in detail: who is the executor of the project, the owner, the manager, etc. Therefore, we would suggest discussing these issues as well, ”says D. Matonienė, adding that another important aspect is the financial capacity of the population to cover the costs of changing gas cylinders with their own funds before the state reimburses them.

Delfi Būstas asked the Ministry of Energy if the project implementation procedures could still be adjusted. The response indicates that the deadline for public consultation of the projects was set for July 14. Lithuania’s Republican House of Housing Administration and Supervision had submitted part of its proposals before this deadline. All these proposals, along with the proposals submitted by other entities, were evaluated and discussed during the preparation and improvement of the project.

“After adjusting the projects, they were adopted on July 22. On the same day, after the approval of the projects, the Ministry received a letter from the Lithuanian Republican House of Administration and Supervision House, which included further proposals for the projects. Since the proposals were received a second time after all the deadlines were met and the legal acts were approved, it was no longer possible to consider them, ”the Ministry responded.