Even the oak trees cut down in an EU-funded leisure park: everything is legal because 5 years have passed | Business

First, the outrage of the Antanavas villagers began to spread on Facebook, where residents established a “business plan”.

“We need a plan, then we need to use EU support, absorb some money and establish a ‘leisure park’ under the ‘Europe invests in rural areas’ program. So it is necessary to disguise the entrance so that, God does not no one knows about the existence of such a “park.” After waiting patiently for 5 years, everything was cut (wood, of course, for sale), ”a woman shared photos with grim images.

15 minutes I decided to visit the park. The indicated park is not marked on any map or tourist page, there is no road sign next to it, so if it wasn’t for the locals, we would not have been able to discover the grassy entrance. Stumps and logging debris were left to erect around the gazebos, which appear to have never been used for their intended purpose. More about this visit in the video.

When patience was lacking, it was too late

A resident of the nearby town of Antanavas 15 minutes He says he is disappointed: the EU-funded park was initially “hidden” from the public and eventually shrunk.

“When I started installing that park, he built such a serious toilet with foundations, the gazebos are very beautiful, chimneys, two bridges in the forest, roads. Well, he really organized the whole area very well. It was only from the beginning that we wondered why the main street entrance is masked. There was no arrow, no information about that park anywhere. Later, no one was interested in the park, it was covered in grass, the rubble-poured entrance became completely invisible. After the storms, the trees started to spin, and once it became dangerous, we started looking for who owned it here. Well, someone has to handle it, ”said the local, who did not want to reveal his identity.

She says she didn’t want to get mad for long until she finally turned to the National Paying Agency.

“An inner voice seemed to say that there was no need to complain about another person. But when it had already reached such a level that the grass had grown on the buildings, and it was dangerous for children, I wrote, I called. They told me that we know everything, but there is nothing we can do anymore, because the period has passed, “says the resident.

Later, the inscription that the park was installed with EU funds disappeared, but was not maintained.

“There were absolutely no visitors, nothing happened, but here, in the late fall, some trucks came, some people came, and absolutely cut all the trees in two days.” We tried to call the old man, but the old man said he was privately owned and could do nothing. They even drove down the road we had arranged, ”the woman resented.

She recalls that the park’s bulletin board said the park was tailored to the recreational goals and special needs of the rural population.

“There is a very high probability that the area has been landscaped just to take unfair advantage of EU support for rural communities, as the place never served the rural population and did not meet any of their needs,” said the resident.

He was surprised that even the century-old oak trees growing in the park could be cut down.

The NMA does not say who the park’s builders were or how much it cost

The National Paying Agency explained that the project was implemented in this place under the measure “Non-profit investments in forests” of the previous programming period (Lithuanian Rural Development Program 2007-2013). The rules for this measure in 2008 were approved by the then Minister of Agriculture Kazimiera Danutė Prunskienė, and the park was installed in 2011 on a private plot.

How much does this park cost, who built it, the NMA does not provide information, as it can only provide information from the last two financial years.

“The aforementioned project does not fall within this time frame,” explained Donata Macevičienė, mentor to the NMA’s Department of Communication.

The supervision of the project lasted five years, during which no violations were found, and now the owners are free to do whatever they want.

“The Agency has the right to verify if the beneficiary complies with the conditions established in the grant agreement, 5 years after the date of the signature of the grant agreement. This period expired in 2016. Therefore, after the end of the 5-year period, the NMA has no legal basis to further inspect the implemented project, “explained D.Macevičienė. She notes that the NMA is now exercising improved control over those projects whose monitoring period has not yet expired.

The AMN explained that the agricultural policy is shaped by the Ministry of Agriculture.

“We cannot comment much because, as we said, it would not be our competition. However, it is understandable that the abandoned implemented projects disappoint us,” admitted D.Macevičienė.

Owner changed in 2016

In the same year of 2016, when supervision of the EU-funded project was stopped, the owner of the parcel changed: a donation transaction was made, according to data from the Records Center. The area of ​​this parcel of land is 3.6 hectares, the registered purpose is agriculture, the average market value is approximately 15 thousand. and the owner of the plot is Arturas Roškovskis.

The person with that name is the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Lithuania in Ghana. We try to contact you by email, but so far we have not received a response; We will update the post after receiving the reply.

The VMT issued a permit for sanitary felling

The State Forest Service (SFS) is aware of this situation, and logging appears to be legal.

“There was a project, then the forest owner wanted to use EU structural funds, made a correction to the forest management project and established that park.” We do not oversee that contract because it is an agreement between the NMA and the forest owner. In case the forest owner does not comply with the contract, the NMA will apply sanctions, terminate the contract or will not pay the money, “said the specialist.

He explained that the deforestation permit was issued last year.

“A permit for green sanitary logging was issued here, due to the fact that wood is rare and due to disease. It was allowed to clear 0.7 hectares of forest,” reported Rimantas Šermukšnis, the chief specialist who oversees VMT forestry in Vilnius district.

He confirmed that oaks could also be felled.

“Yes, there were oak trees, but the base was ash. Cutting is allowed due to diseases of the ash roots,” says R. Šermukšnis. He explains that only the owner of the plot or a person authorized by him could request a Excuse me.

R. Šermukšnis ensures that every time a request for sanitary felling is made, the SFVS checks for tree diseases.

Millions traveled through the woods to have fun

According to NMA data, € 16.4 million was allocated to recreational projects in 2007-2013, for a total of 243 similar projects. An average of 67 thousand euros was allocated for a project.

Project implementers only needed 10 percent of their own funds, as the maximum possible share of support was up to 90 percent.

Currently, the NMA map, which marked the installed complexes, is no longer working. The remaining statistics reveal that most of these objects were installed in the districts of Švenčionys (23), Molėtai (16), Kretinga (15), Vilnius and Trakai (14 each).

Since 2014, investments in forest recreation have decreased: to date, 60 projects have been implemented for a value of 2.55 million euros, 42.6 thousand LTL per project. euros Most of the new recreation places have been installed in the Vilnius district.

15 minutes He has previously written that hundreds of thousands of euros are spent on secret resorts, but they are often linked by the sad reality that hardly anyone knows about large areas on private plots, and abandoned resorts are coming to an end.