The businessmen who remain at the end of the first row do not skimp on the bitter words of power: the situation is deplorable

While some join the new Night Economy Association, others meet with the representatives of the Ministry of Health and try to agree on the conditions under which they could resume their activities.

As Vidmantas Šiugždinis, director of Impuls and Lemon Gym sports clubs, told Delfi, the issue of swimming pools and saunas was discussed with chief epidemiologist Loreta Ašoklienė on Monday.

“We discussed the conditions in which the pools could operate. What could be the restrictions, the same 20 square meters per person, to set the maximum number of people in the pool at a time.” If we can prepare these things promptly and present them to the Government, we have high hopes that they will be able to consider and make this decision this Wednesday, “he said.

The situation is deplorable

In Lithuania, nightclubs and other entertainment venues are currently banned, and bars can only be open until 9pm and only outdoors. Mark Adam Harold, Chairman of the Vilnius Night Alliance, said that businesses in these areas are not doing well, because the financial support they were promised has not yet arrived and will not be for a long time.

“The main problem is that the government does not guarantee that the support will continue until the end of the quarantine. As a result, the patience of the owners has been tested and the bars are in a precarious position, racking up considerable debts to the owners and the state. It will ever have to be repaid, which means that even if the business doesn’t go bankrupt, it will have a long way to go and will have no equity in the account at the time of opening.

Opening outdoor cafes doesn’t help much because operating restrictions make it impossible to make a profit from outdoor cafes and some even go into the red. A completely unnecessary and science-based work time restriction is particularly annoying.

Lowering the VAT rate will help in the future, but it is certainly not a substitute for adequate financial support.
Also damaging is the previous and current governments’ emphasis on the supposed evil of alcohol and the irresponsibility and insecurity of bars. Public opinion is not based on facts, but on baseless accusations by prime ministers and ministers. The government will not compensate for that damage, “he said.

According to MA Harold, the government does not base its decisions on the investigation, but on its belief that nightclubs are the most dangerous and should open in the end.

“We have introduced many additional security measures and new technologies to the National Center for Public Health and the Ministry of Health, and that does not interest them. It’s easy to become scapegoats and blame ourselves for everything.

The third wave came even when all the bars were closed, but people still believe that the bars are to blame for everything.
Maybe it will allow us to operate at 70 percent. people will be vaccinated? But vaccination has stalled due to people’s reluctance to get vaccinated. In a word, we think that the government could have better organized both financial support and openness.

We believe that the ministry is working irresponsibly or lazily to work. We offer help that they refuse. We even created a tracking and SMS system, we registered 60 thousand. visits to the database, and the NVSC declined to use that data. I didn’t even write in our letters. We also found a Korean air filtration system destroying the COVID-19 virus, and NVSC is in no rush to evaluate and authorize it in Lithuania. We are waiting for the answer for many weeks, “he said.

Mr. Harold described the situation in the sector as deplorable.

“We may avoid massive bankruptcy, but a lot of damage has been done and will be done in a completely unnecessary way due to the government’s unwillingness to talk to us and cooperate.” We made suggestions in February, then we were able to plan normally, and the ministry didn’t even cancel for 6 weeks. When rejected, the response followed a pattern and did not inspire a willingness to collaborate or be guided by the investigation.

We are considering filing a complaint with a court or ombudsman, especially for unreasonable time constraints. “We have registered a new Night Economy Association and soon we will invite members to join, together we will fight for the rights of this sector and defend our image from political attacks and misunderstandings,” he said.

According to the Registry of Legal Entities, the founders of the new association are MA Harold, Raimondas Pranka, director of the Association of Bars and Cafes of Lithuania, Saulius Galdikas, director of the Piano Man bar, Gringo pub and Vilius Kadūnas, owner of the Pamella restaurant , the nightclub Karolis Šlikas, director of Opium, and Giedrius Vaškelaitis, director of the Kablys club.

Open in a few weeks

At present, pool and sauna services can be provided in all lodging establishments (not just rural tourism farms) when they are provided to no more than one family or household member.

Thus, for example, the Vichy water park in Vilnius is not yet operational. His coach, Marius Šiškauskas, called the situation strange.

“There are a lot of items that make swimming pools safer because of the chlorine in the water, because of other tools that are used to clean and maintain the facilities. No one is swimming in the pool. The distances between people are quite considerable. We are waiting for the solutions, ”he commented on government policy.

The manager said that even if he was allowed to work, the water park could only open in a few weeks.

“When such a large unit is stopped in the first place, workers still need to be evaluated. When you restart and turn on all these units, there can be all kinds of failures, as well as water spills, due to all kinds of saunas.

You need to see who will go back to work, who may already be working elsewhere, but who is not informed, etc. You may not be able to do it in a day or three. We don’t want to do it in advance, because the inspection may not be relevant if we don’t work for another month or two, ”he said.

Tragic M. Šiškauskas called the financial situation of the company Vandens Parkas.

“So far we haven’t received anything at all (no employee grants). We will try to participate again, but there are still some obstacles. In my opinion, we are absolutely the company most affected, because both the water park, the Delfi sports center and our restaurant, everything was closed completely and for a long time ”, said the interlocutor.

Crossed extremely painfully

The operation of gambling houses (casinos), slot machines, bingo halls, gambling halls and betting shops remains prohibited.

Mantas Zakarka, director of the Lithuanian Gaming Business Association, commented that overall, the gaming sector in Lithuania received 8.1 percent in 2020, or 9.1 million. EUR less revenue than in 2019.

“In 2020, revenue from physical gaming venues whose activities are banned due to quarantine fell by as much as 39 percent (28.2 million euros).

This year, this percentage will increase even more. For companies that host gambling only in physical gambling venues, the pandemic has hit especially hard: Businesses do not generate and cannot receive revenue at all. However, the company is making efforts to retain its employees and there have been no massive layoffs in this sector since the start of the pandemic, “he said.

Mr. Zakarka noted that approximately 2,000. Workers in the sector are currently unemployed, but the companies belonging to the association hope to be able to start operations soon under the strictest safety requirements.

“Throughout the pandemic, there have been no outbreaks in companies in this sector, as much attention has been and will be paid to ensuring the safety of visitors,” he said.

It opened up, but it wasn’t easier

Sports clubs, which opened with restrictions this week, are not yet able to offer pool and sauna services. V. Šiugždinis said that on Monday the first visitors arrived at the clubs at 6.30.

“It just came to our notice then. When he’s not working for half a year, both staff and customers are eager to open. However, we and other operators are in a very difficult situation, so this opening is optimistic for one side: it can operate, provide services even with all the restrictions, but it doesn’t make life easier. We all have a huge burden of debt, from taxes to rent, utilities and various others, “he said.

The head of Impuls indicated that he expected delays in sector subsidies.

“We hope that there are certain sectors whose income has fallen more than 30 or 50 percent, which has been determined by the Ministry of Economy and Innovation so far. Revenues from the sports club sector have been reduced by 90 percent. and more in the last six months. We hope that they will have separate support packages, or the purchase of services, compensation for the loss of income, ”said V. Šiugždinis.