Vilnius city municipalities representative Agnė Šataitė says that after receiving the opinion of the Public Procurement Service (VPT) regarding National Stadium project changes, alternative calculation methods are presented to the company implementing the project and further progress will depend on the received answer.
"The further plan of the municipality is that we have familiarized ourselves with the opinion of the Public Procurement Service, we thank the Service for a job well done, and we have presented the alternative calculation methods outlined in the opinion to the project company for evaluation as a negotiating position," said A. Šataitė at the meeting of the Audit Committee of the Seimas on Wednesday.
"Once we get a response from the project company, we will know the next step," she noted.
Members of the Audit Committee of the Parliament Asta Kubilienė and Artūras Skardžius raised questions about the project itself, paying great attention to the indexing of the project. In response to the questions raised, the head of VPT, Darius Vedrickas, assured that the increase in price over the last three-four years is significant, but the discussion is about indexation in the event of unforeseen circumstances, which is not decided in the law on concessions.
"Price increase from 2020-2021 is a sign, real. At the price that was decided at the beginning of the concession agreement, when submitting the initial offer, it is obvious that after four years there is no possibility to build at the same price", said D. Vedrick.
"That's why today we have a discussion about the indexation of the price of the concession contract and the correct way that indexation should be done due to unforeseen circumstances. "Indexing due to unforeseen circumstances is not decided either in the Law on Concessions or in other matters," she explained.
Artūras Zuokas, the leader of the opposition of the Vilnius Council, who also participated in the meeting, testified that indexing due to unforeseen circumstances is a "theoretical concept" and, in his opinion, such a nature could not be applied to this project.
"Actually, according to the risk matrix and the contract, indexing is possible only under certain circumstances. The contract stipulates the conditions for this. The city council, the majority, approved and did that indexation, although it was wrongly done, because those amounts were also indexed, whose work was done and could not be indexed. However, after returning to a new meeting, with a new decision, the city assumed more than 2 million. amount of euros, that the city compensates for it in other ways", said A. Zuokas.
"Indexing due to unforeseen circumstances is already a theoretical concept here, a matter for improvisation. And VPT was quite skeptical about the application of that condition, looking for methodological justification for certain amounts and time change is a complete improvisation of one side. (…) In principle, we believe that unforeseen circumstances could not be applied in this indexation", he emphasized.
A. Zuokas urged the Audit Committee of the Seimas to request copies of the minutes of the meetings of the interdepartmental working group negotiating the National Stadium project. This was unanimously approved by the committee.
E LTA reminds that at the end of June VPT submitted its opinion on changes to the National Stadium project and remains on the assessment that the division of the indexed price between the contract parties must be different than what is currently proposed Vilnius city municipality. Also, in the letter submitted by the Office, which ELTA has seen, it is urged not to index new assets with a value above 7 million. euros.
VPT also asserts that due to the completion of additional works after shortening the period of operation and payments to the concessionaire, in the context of risk sharing, this change should not be seen as having any significant impact.
In mid-May, the Vilnius City Municipal Council once again approved the changes foreseen in the multi-functional project of the capital, which includes National Stadium. The value of the project is 157,23 million. euros.
According to the capital city municipality, due to the anticipated reduction in the intensity of investment indexation, the concessionaire will refuse construction financing discounts granted to the Vilnius Municipality and the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports (ŠMSM), as a result of which the total need for public funds will change minimally - to the lesser half in favor of the municipality and the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports (ŠMSM).
However, according to VPN, the Vilnius authorities took into account only a part of the changes, and regarding the comments that were not taken into account, the Service will contact the institution hoping for explanations. The conclusion of the European Commission is expected to be received before the summer.
The project of the National Stadium in Vilnius from the manager of capital funds "BaltCap" is going to take over the real estate development company "Males". Its owner Arvydas Avulis indicates that the construction of the stadium could be completed by the end of 2026. According to the mayor of the capital Valdas Benkunskas, the actual cost of construction alone from 2020 beginning until 2022 increased by 40 percent.
The entire multifunctional complex includes the National Stadium with a sports museum inside, a sports center with basketball, handball, gymnastics, and boxing halls, three football training fields, an international category athletics stadium with a football field, an athletics warm-up area with throwing sectors, a cultural center with a library and Kindergarten with 300 places.
It is estimated that the cost of construction works increased by 27,1 million. euros, new works would also contribute (3 thousand additional seats in the stadium and a universal arena), that is 13 million. euros. However, it is stated that 38,1 million euros could be saved by borrowing for only 2 years, instead of 22 years, as previously planned.
Ignas Dobrovolskas (ELTA)
