Vilnius Municipality took longer than planned to coordinate national stadium amendments to the concession agreement with the European Commission (EC), the capital city government and the real estate company "Males"The manager hopes that his construction, which was suspended more than a year ago, will resume this half of the year."
A. Avulis, who previously spoke about a possible withdrawal from the stadium project, now states that he does not intend to do so.
"Since the goal is big, you need to have a lot of patience. I am not as powerful and strong as Lithuanian politicians, because they can do whatever they want, and I really can neither fight nor sue. (…) We can say once again that we are ready to do this project if permits are granted," said the owner of "Hanner".
However, according to him, due to the delay in the contract amendment process, the previously planned completion date for the stadium's construction - the end of 2026 - is unrealistic.
"It is absolutely unrealistic. It is impossible to do this. We simply spent the summer here, during which a lot of work could have been done. Time has been lost here. We will have to come to terms with other deadlines," said A. Avulis.
He did not rule out the risk that as the project becomes more expensive, the capital city authorities may again have to decide on changes to the concession agreement.
Vilnius City Council approved amendments to the national stadium concession agreement last August. With the change in risk sharing, the project will cost the municipality and the state EUR 155,1 million – EUR 2,54 million less than agreed in May.
A. Avulis has said that the shares of the stadium concessionaire company "Vilniaus mājufunksis kompleksas" (Venetus Capital), the main shareholder, were sold from "BaltCap"he would only buy it out when the issue of the VPN findings is resolved and the amendments to the project agreement are approved by the EC."
The multifunctional complex with the national football stadium includes 15 facilities – an 18-seat stadium, an arena, a conference center, a museum, a kindergarten, and more.
Author Giedrius Gaidamavičius
