Remigijus Šimašius: peasants and greens killed the national stadium

According to the mayor, what he means in this case, when it will seem somewhat detrimental to relations with the central government.

I received a VPN letter

“It is no secret that the ‘peasant’ government has tried to kill the national stadium project before, and has done so in a cowardly and shameful way, in two ways, not with its own hands, but under the guise of subordinate services.” The project was torpedoed many times: it was unexpectedly cut from EU funds last year, applied without reason to the Prime Minister-friendly FNTT, the former Ministry of Education, Sports and Science wrote the longest letter in doubt: we resisted Vilnius he was alive ”, writes the mayor.

According to him, the project was finally killed using the head of the Public Procurement Office (PPP) who was left without a head: “Yesterday it was stated that the project is not a concession, so everything must be canceled. Attention: the same service used to answer the same question twice (!) In the past, before it had a strong leader and did not join the service of “peasants”, which is not the issue of public procurement and, therefore, It is not your competition. But the rest without a manager, she says otherwise: yesterday we received her letter, which I can boldly call legal nonsense. Of course, we will complain in court, but given the length of the process, I am under no illusions.

By the way, in March, the VPT suspended the signing of the stadium contract: we appealed these provisional protection measures in court. The court will announce the decision TODAY, i. VPT rushed over and deliberately sent his letter yesterday, the last day in court, if the court would sometimes remove the provisional protective measures and Vilnius would come to a contract to sign. Today, this court decision will no longer make sense: after disconnecting the life support device, no one will discuss what operation the patient needs. “

According to the mayor, the stadium project was approved by the Ministry of Finance, the Central Project Management Agency, the European Investment Bank. International architects were working on the project, who, according to the mayor, will send a message to the world about the instability of investment in Lithuania, and the business had already invested six-figure sums in the project.

Fired the board

“I’m not even talking about how many years the municipal team worked on the project and how many resources were donated to it, but the government will have to cover all the losses for us.” And this is being done at a time when the state most needs such projects: we are entering an economic crisis, and the national stadium would not have cost Vilnius and Lithuania a single euro before its construction.

This “peasant” board works against the interests of Lithuania, against the desire for growth of Lithuanian cities and towns, against the dreams of children who play sports.

What is obvious? This “peasant” board works against the interests of Lithuania, against the desire for growth of Lithuanian cities and towns, against the dreams of children who play sports. It is a government that is destroying Lithuania, based on political duplicity, its personal and electoral interests. They thought they would bite Vilnius, but with such actions they humiliated all of Lithuania. As long as those people are in power, we can forget the progress of the country and a better life, “R. Šimašius was angry.

According to the mayor, the preparation of a new plan for the stadium is already underway, as Vilnius will still have it, however, the national government does not like it. At the same time, they will prepare a plan on how to “protect Vilnius from further attacks by the” peasant “junta.

Axis Industries won the tender to build a multifunctional complex on Šeškinė Hill. According to the project, in addition to the stadium, the complex will have a library, kindergarten, sports grounds, museum. It is indicated that the price of the planned object in the area of ​​22 ha is 93.2 million. However, almost 156 million euros will have to be paid over 25 years. euros

Axis Industries declines to comment further, according to its representatives, “the company was ready to implement what the customer would have decided to do.”

The accusations of representation of the party were rejected

Jovita Petkuvienė, Interim VPN Manager, speaking with 15 minutes, noted that the National Stadium is a joint project of the Vilnius City Municipality and the Government. “An interesting accusation, because in this project the public sector is represented by the Vilnius City Municipality and the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports. The government is allocating a significant amount of money for this project. “It seems quite interesting to see that we represent a specific political force,” he said.

J.Petkuvienė 15 minutes He assured that the VPN acted independently, within its competence, and was certainly not influenced by any political force. He recalled that the VPN inspection was initiated by the Office of the Attorney General.

The assessment that we represent some specific political force seems quite interesting, – said J. Petkuvienė.

“After reviewing the documents, we have identified violations and believe that this concession should be terminated without a contract,” said the interim manager. According to her, the institution itself had the most doubts about the model. J.Petkuvienė explained that the essence of the concession is that most or all of the risks are transferred to the concessionaire.

“In this case, a series of negotiations have been carried out in such a way that most of the risks, almost not all, are assumed by the public sector. If it is in the public sector, it does not correspond to the essence of the concession , which means that said contract cannot be considered as a concession contract for 25 years, and so on. It is not just a question of price, because it is natural that risk has a cost. But if the public sector, and taxpayers they pay a high price and still take all the risks, in which case we don’t get the benefits we deserve. After reviewing everything, it’s similar to our sad-looking Lithuanian football where there is a hitting on a goal, “he explained.

According to J. Petkuvienė, the Vilnius government could borrow money from the market, make public purchases, and then find a dealer. Or publish a new concession contract, but this time review the risk distribution. “To ensure that the public sector is not responsible for the risks that may arise. So much demand risk, that it is not totally in line with the essence of the concession, if the public sector has to meet demand. So, the public sector it can operate and there is no need for a dealer, ”he assured.

Due to the change in the financing model

The conclusion of the VPN, a copy of which is owned by BNS, states that the concession agreement was intended to separate state and municipal risks, but that the project assumed the risk. agreement.

“After changing the project’s financing structure, its substantial risk is completely transferred to the granting authorities, i. that is, instead of the investment lent or lent by the participant in the initially planned infrastructure, the institutions agree not to pay the company directly for the construction of the assets, but to transfer the right to pay the works to the financier who completes the works. with the dealer. it is installed during construction ”, concludes the service.

“In this way, the concessionaire carries out the work for three years on the basis of a loan from the financier, for which the authorities assume all the risk,” says the conclusion.

According to VPT, according to the current model, both construction and subsequent financing services can be acquired by the municipality without risk through public procurement.

If it is not a sports facility, land can be returned

In a press conference under the government, R. Šimašius declared that he had chosen this place because this news is directly related to the “peasant” government.

“If anyone thinks this is a victory over Vilnius, it is not true. It is a ‘victory’ against the entire sports community, sports lovers, against children who need a dream to go to training, against honor and dignity from Lithuania, because it is obvious that Lithuania’s shame is that we do not have a normal stadium.

As mayor, it is not very easy for me as mayor to be here and say these words, because the mayor has to work without problems with the Government to start the projects, I have been trying to do it for five years, in many cases by far success. Lately, that success has been adjusted from the sidelines. This is not the first time that millions of EU decisions have been announced, up to 41 million. Not to mention if the Palace of Concerts and Sports will ever come out of the dead end. Today, the nail after which it can no longer be said that someone here is trying to cooperate in this national government, “said the mayor.

R.Šimašius stated that the legal possibilities regarding this project are being examined, perhaps to go to court, but it is taking a long time. It is being considered that perhaps the entire complex should not be built, but only the stadium. “We will sit down, examine, but I will only remind you that this place is a type of situation. According to the detailed plan, we have foreseen that it would be a sports object, if it were not, the territory would be returned as a racial village. In fact, no I know what the government’s plans are, “said the mayor.

“This is not a VPN competition”

Povilas Poderskis, director of the municipal administration, said that the conclusion of the VPT was incorrect.

“It is an example of incompetence that is full of lies, falsehoods and, to put it simply, nonsense. It is not within their competence to assess whether the risk has been taken well, properly. And they evaluated it incorrectly because the risk is transferred to the private investor and this is shown in the risk matrix, as confirmed by the Central Project Management Agency, the Ministry of Finance in its conclusion. It was only after the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports took over the review of that I agree that several fears arose, which informed the VPT. It would be absurd to further change, manage or redesign the project itself, “said P. Poderskis.

When asked what happens next, R. Šimašius said there are two options. “One is smaller actions for the multifunctional complex and the stadium, we will continue to consult with lawyers, although the project has been canceled, but life can be saved in some way. We will evaluate everything to the end.

Another thing: we are sitting from tomorrow, which measures, because we had them, activate for the construction of the stadium. Obviously, looking at the whole load, the plot, the project, it’s hard to imagine that the project is as big as it is now. Although all the facilities except the sports museum were very necessary. I doubt it will be possible to build everything of this size, but the stadium is really like that, “said the mayor.

There are also likely to be no opportunities to build such an object through a concession; According to the mayor, no investor will want to take a similar object, because the state’s reputation for attracting investment has been damaged.

When asked if it would be possible to use part of the prepared project, the mayor said it is most likely not just the idea of ​​a project proposal, but probably a new tender.

“Our few steps, which will undoubtedly be, are a lawsuit against SMSM and VPT to compensate for all the losses incurred and the breakdown of our expectations and the false conclusion they made. This project has been ongoing since 2013, with approximately one hundred people working alone in the last five years. (…) Taking all losses into account, the amount could reach 0.5 million euros. Podersky said.