In-store parking restrictions remain, but Skvernel promises to hear the arguments

Mindaugas Statulevičius, Director of the Lithuanian Real Estate Development Association, and Rūta Vainienė, President of the Lithuanian Trade Association, appealed to the Provisional Government regarding the relaxation of the current parking restriction. They argued that leaving only a fifth of the parking spaces is difficult, as more people are allowed in stores than parking spaces, and products ordered online are picked up near supermarkets, and some small grocery stores generally have few parking spaces.

Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis proposed supplementing the article on the parking restriction so that it did not include post offices, express collection points, but in the end the interim government was left without a decision.

The Prime Minister also proposed to the Acting Minister of Health to determine for himself which stores would be subject to individual restrictions.

“That order is set by the operations manager, and then think about where the store has 5 parking spaces in total, then we leave them one in total. Make a form so that the Government does not have to take into account if it is a grocery store or a small store each time ”, suggested S. Skvernelis to remove the provision of the resolution and solve everything for Aurelijus Veryga, the head of the Center of Operations.

Grocery stores, or in other cases, could be exempted. But such a decision was not accepted in the discussion.

“For the moment, we are leaving this article as it is. If we see that solutions will be needed, we will have the Government meet remotely and make the necessary change. (…) It is not a question of regulation, so as not to complicate things Forgive me, today these are the main places of gathering and gathering of people: not small grocery stores, nor individual companies, but large shopping and entertainment centers, ”emphasized S. Skvernelis.

He promised urgent extraordinary decisions and possible adjustments in a separate decision if necessary.

Negotiate with the social partners

Speaking to the media, S. Skvernelis emphasized that limiting the number of parking spaces near supermarkets “should discourage people who don’t need to go to supermarkets.”

S. Skvernelis was outraged that it was not possible to find a free parking space near supermarkets on weekends, despite the old restriction of the flow of visitors.

“The sites are full and it is impossible to reach them, there are traffic jams, which means that some of those regulatory measures do not work that way. This is one of the measures to limit the number of parking spaces so that they do not enter, another additional measure to prevent traffic from concentrating during peak hours, ”said S. Skvernelis.

He stressed that all employees must work remotely and this provides additional opportunities.

However, he stressed that the head of the Operations Center can determine and adjust parking with individual decisions, and negotiations with the social partners will continue in the coming days.

“It just came to our knowledge then. It is possible to discuss a number, maybe 20%, maybe 50%. Somewhere necessary. But this is the general rule, and the operations manager should adjust the individual application,” said S Skvernelis.

He noticed that near post offices, etc. more places could be left

“If necessary, it will be possible to convene an extraordinary meeting of the Government and one more decision will be acceptable,” said S. Skvernelis.

Statulevičius: 10 a. M. all places were taken

M. Statulevičius, director of the Association of Real Estate Developers, proposed to reduce the current restriction of 20%. of all places on the site, up to 50 percent.

“I want to share my opinion and that of the supermarket managers and I fear that this is really a very difficult restriction to implement. Of course, supermarkets were fully prepared for this, but we’ve already seen it at 10 o’clock. In the morning, all parking lots are already fully occupied and we don’t know what will happen during peak hours, ”said M. Statulevičius.

He explained that many e. Supermarkets are concentrated near supermarkets; many buyers come for a short period of time to collect ordered products. He assured that the flow of buyers in stores is already 70 percent lower than a year ago.

M. Statulevičius argued that restricting half of the parking spaces would not lead to such high tensions and possible infringements of traffic regulations.

R. Vainienė proposed a different solution: link parking spaces with the number of shoppers who can visit the store in accordance with existing space restrictions.

“The data is different now because there are more people in the store and less parking,” explained the saleswoman.

He stressed that the biggest problem is for grocery stores that have small parking lots and asked that they at least highlight them.

Acting Health Minister A. Veryga tried to dissuade the government from making decisions.

“I would still suggest thinking very hard about whether we need to mitigate, especially since we don’t have a real picture yet. And you are as you say that you cannot tell what that need will be. If you say 10 am is busy, it is a good sign for people not to choose during rush hours, “said A. Veryga.

He recalled the recommendation to extend business hours so that flows are diluted.

“And today we have a record number of cases again, I think it is really illogical to cancel immediately before we can see. Given all the requests for additional measures, we would be inconsistent. I will remind you that as an alternative he proposed to abandon this trade completely “, – A. Veryga did not want to give up.

However, most other ministers were more supportive of merchants, arguing that it would make sense to limit the number of parking spaces in the absence of other restrictions, such as area per visitor.

“It seems to me that the proposal of the 50% associations is rational, it can be tried, it is easy to tell,” said Justice Minister Elvinas Jankevičius.

It has already been announced that the government introduced new restrictions extending the quarantine on Monday, effective from Wednesday.

Parking spaces adjacent to stores, supermarkets, markets, and other public places can occupy a maximum of one-fifth of all parking spaces, excluding those for employees or the disabled.

Stores, supermarkets, markets and other public outlets and areas adjacent to them must have 15 square meters of commercial space per customer, when the total commercial space is 10,000 square meters or less.

An even greater area of ​​30 square meters must be provided per visitor in areas greater than 10,000. square meters in shops and supermarkets.

It is necessary for traders to ensure other conditions set by the operations manager for the management of the flow of people, the maintenance of a safe distance, the necessary safety of public health, hygiene and the provision of people with personal protective equipment necessary.

Additional recommendations apply. It is recommended not to use short-term sales promotion measures (sales, discount hours, tastings, etc.) in all stores or markets, service points, which increase the flow of buyers and visitors in a very short time and in a specific place (except online sales).

It is also recommended to increase the number of cash registers in operation so that there are no more than 5 people in line. It is recommended that stores establish longer opening hours so that customer flows are distributed more evenly.

People in the same family or household are encouraged to visit all the stores, supermarkets, markets and other public outlets and service points one by one.

In general, it is recommended to restrict the movement of the population for unnecessary reasons: leaving the place of residence only on the way to work, a place of commerce, for medical care and other services.